A Cumberland County man accused of stabbing his grandfather to death as the victim slept has rejected a plea offer in the case.
Prosecutors say Shawn A. Moir, 27, stabbed Albert B. Moir, 59, multiple times with a large kitchen knife in the victim’s Vineland home on the night of Aug. 26, 2025.
The defendant was indicted on murder and other charges last month and entered a not guilty plea during a post-indictment arraignment hearing on Monday.
Under the proposed plea, prosecutors offered a recommended 30-year prison sentence with a requirement that Moir serve the entire term in return for a guilty plea.
Moir was living with his grandparents at the time of the killing and drove off in an SUV belonging to them after the attack, authorities said.
His grandmother called 911 to report the stabbing and identified him as the assailant, according to prosecutors. She was also injured when she tried to intervene, the prosecution said.
U.S. Marshals arrested Shawn Moir the following afternoon in Pennsylvania when they found him in the vehicle, which was parked in a Villanova University parking garage, federal officials said.
A grand jury handed up a five-count indictment in December, charging Moir with first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, fourth-degree aggravated assault and third-degree theft of a motor vehicle.
In discussing next steps in the case during Monday’s hearing, public defender Ron Appleby said he needs to review discovery recently received from the prosecutor’s office.
He also described his client’s mental health status.
“My client has a significant mental health history. Issues with mental health. So we’ll be addressing that,” Appleby said.
Moir is jailed pending trial and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 9.
The allegations in this case are similar to a 2017 incident in which the defendant attacked someone else he was living with as the victim slept, a prosecutor said during an October hearing.
In that 2017 case, Moir pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated assault and was sentenced to jail time.
At the time of his latest arrest, Moir was already out of jail on court monitoring for aggravated sexual assault charges involving a juvenile victim in Gloucester County, according to court records.
Moir is scheduled for a Jan. 16 pre-trial conference in his Gloucester County case.
