12-Year-Old Jordan Brown to be Tried as an Adult for Allegedly Murdering Pregnant Woman
PITTSBURGH (CBS/AP) Jordan Brown was 11 when he was allegedly murdered his father's pregnant fiancee with a shotgun blast to the back of her head. Now, just 12-years-old, a judge has ruled that he will face trial as an adult in the death of both the woman and the fetus.
PICTURES: Kenzie Houk Murdered
Jordan is charged with criminal homicide in the death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk. Houk was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she was shot at the family's farmhouse in western Pennsylvania, on Feb. 20, 2009. The male fetus died from a resulting lack of oxygen.
"This offense was an execution-style killing of a defenseless pregnant young mother. A more horrific crime is difficult to imagine," Lawrence County Judge Dominick Motto wrote in his opinion refusing to move the case to juvenile court.
PICTURES: Kenzie Houk Murdered
The boy could be convicted of anything from involuntary manslaughter to first-degree murder under Pennsylvania's homicide law. Prosecutors have said they will seek a conviction on first-degree murder charges, for which he could face up to life in prison if convicted
Prosecutors have suggested the boy was jealous of Houk and her unborn son. Police had said Jordan hid the weapon under a blanket so Houk's 7-year-old daughter wouldn't see it as he entered her mother's room. Later, authorities say, he threw the spent shell casing along a path on his way to a bus and went to school.
PICTURES: Kenzie Houk Murdered
A state trooper testified that tests showed the shell was fired from Jordan's youth-model 20-gauge shotgun.
Jordan's attorneys, Dennis Elisco and David Acker, had argued that the boy was too young to realize the full import of his actions and that he would best be dealt with in juvenile court, where he could receive treatment and incarceration specifically aimed at younger offenders.
But the judge said the testimony of the defense psychologist did not convince him that Jordan was best tried as a juvenile.
MEDIAPICTURES: Kenzie Houk Murdered
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