Middlesex County officials reported Friday that Jaree Kitchen, 24, has been sentenced for the crimes of Murder, aggravated arson, and weapons offenses.
According to Middlesex County authorities, on November 6, 2019, at approximately 3:19 A.M., Jamesburg Police officers responded to 7 Sheridan Street in Jamesburg for a report of a house fire.
Upon arrival, officers observed visible flames exiting the structure of the house. Officials said the Jamesburg Fire Department arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire.
A subsequent investigation conducted by Sergeant Kevin Wilson, Detective Sergeant Jason Muller and Detective Jim Dennis of the Jamesburg Police Department and Sergeant Deon McCall of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office found that Kitchen had recently returned to Jamesburg from Georgia to live with his father, Clifford Kitchen Jr., but soon after his arrival the father and son began having significant issues.
Middlesex County officials said this erupted into a physical altercation that resulted in Jaree Kitchen fatally stabbing his father and another resident of the home, Gregory Fisher, to death on November 4, 2019.
On November 6, 2019, to destroy and cover up the murders within the home, Jaree Kitchen set the residence of 7 Sheridan Street on fire.
Kitchen was subsequently indicted for two counts of first-degree Murder, second-degree Aggravated Arson, two counts of second-degree Desecrating Human Remains, two counts of third-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, two counts of fourth-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, and two counts of fourth-degree Tampering with Evidence according to Middlesex County officials.
Following the presentation of evidence by Assistant Prosecutors Amber Gibbs and Caitlin Lavery, Kitchen was convicted by a jury on June 1, 2022.
Kitchen was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas J. Buck today, October 28, 2022.
Officials said Kitchen was sentenced to 60 years pursuant to the No Early Release Act for the two counts of Murder and ten years for the charge of Aggravated Arson, to run consecutively, for a total of 70 years.