PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Trenton man will spend the rest of his life in prison, after pleading guilty to murdering his girlfriend in a Bucks County hotel last year.
Orenthia Upshur, 52, of Trenton admitted he killed his girlfriend Maisha Coon, 49, on January 15, 2025, at the Sleep Inn on Street Road in Bensalem, Bucks County.
The judge immediately sentenced him to the mandatory life in prison without parole.
Officials called the proceeding emotional as multiple victim impact statements were read into the record. Those included letters from Coon’s two daughters, who called her both a hard-working caretaker and mother and a vibrant “life of the party.”
“The home feels haunted by her absence,” one daughter’s letter read.
According to court testimony, Upshur and Coon had been together for three decades, and went to the hotel to address relationship issues. One of Upshur’s family members told State Police that morning that Upshur had admitted to the shooting early that morning.
Police tracked Coon’s phone to the Sleep Inn, where they found her body in a third-floor room with multiple gunshot wounds. By that time, Trenton police had already encountered Upshur in Trenton, N.J., where an hourslong standoff ensued.
After he was finally taken into custody, he admitted to the killing in a four-hour interview with police. He told detectives that she pleaded for help and he told her, “It’s all going to end tonight.”
“We are happy that Upshur will not be able to hurt anyone else, and our thoughts remain with Maisha’s family and loved ones,” said Bensalem Police Director of Public Safety William McVery. “We hope this outcome brings them some measure of peace.”
