Red phosphors play an indispensable role in phosphor-based warm white light emitting diodes (WLEDs). We demonstrated recently that the non-rare-earth phosphor Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 :Mn 4+ exhibits red luminescence even more intensely than the commercial Mn 4+ phosphor 3.5MgO.0.5MgF 2 .GeO 2 :Mn 4+ upon blue excitation. Herein, on the basis of crystal field calculations employing the exchange charge model, we identify the energy levels of three types of Mn 4+ ions situated at Al 3+ sites in the Sr 4 Al 14 O 25 crystal lattice and find that the doped manganese ions occupy preferentially the Al4 and Al5 more highly covalent sites rather than the Al6 site. We report that the Mn 4+ luminescence can be enhanced upon the inclusion of Mg 2+ in the synthesis reaction.The mechanisms for this effect comprise the lower nonradiative decay rate from the 2 E g state due to the reduction in energy migration along Mn 4+ ions to killer sites and also the morphology evolution from orderly layered smooth nanosheets to irregular nanoparticles disorderly compacted in porous bundles. Interestingly, various other phases are formed upon the addition of Mg 2+ . The resistance of Mn 4+ photoluminescence in the phosphor to thermal impact has also been studied and no obvious thermal degradation after a cycle experiment by heating and cooling the sample between 25 o C and 300 o C was found. As proof of concept, a warm perception WLED has been made when the phosphor was applied to the package of a blue LED chip and YAG:Ce.