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Mount Vernon resident Savion Kirton, age 27, was convicted of murder last month in the first jury trial to take place in Westchester County Court since last fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, May 24, Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced that Kirton has been sentenced to a term of between 18 years to life in prison following the second-degree murder conviction.
Rocah said that on June 1, 2019, Kirton’s girlfriend was in a local Mount Vernon store when city resident Jermial Rose brushed up against her. After she returned to her apartment and told Kirton what had happened, he proceeded to go back to the storm with a folding knife and confronted Rose on the sidewalk outside the store.
During the confrontation, Kirton took out the knife and stabbed Rose in the left side of his neck with enough force that the knife crossed his throat and severed his right carotid artery. The knife, with Rose’s DNA present, was later located in Kirton’s girlfriend’s apartment.
At sentencing, several of Rose’s family members were in attendance, with his sister speaking on behalf of them.
‘(My brother) never got a chance to live and reach all his goals in life,” she said, adding that “family is all we have and there is not much of my family left. My mom misses her son. I miss my big brother, my protector. My grandmother misses her only grandson, my aunt misses her only nephew, my six-year-old daughter misses her uncle.”
The entire incident was captured on a nearby security camera, which led police to identify Kirton as a suspect before his arrest.
“Our hearts go out to Jermial Rose’s family, and we extend to them our deepest condolences,” Rocah said. “While we know we can never bring their loved one back, we hope that the conviction and sentence of the perpetrator of this crime brings them some measure of peace.”
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