Pharmacologist: Socialite Gigi Jordan's Son Was Given Extreme Amount Of Pills
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An 8-year-old autistic boy was given enough pills to kill him many times over, an expert testified Wednesday.
Gigi Jordan, a socialite and former pharmaceutical executive, is on trial in Manhattan, accused of killing her son, Jude Mirra, who died of a drug overdose in 2010 in a suite at the Peninsula Hotel in Midtown.
Dr. Edward Barbieri, a forensic pharmacologist, told jurors he found extremely high levels of Xanax in the child's blood -- 19 times what an adult would take. Barbieri said Jude also was fed a lot of Prozac and another seditive that reduces blood pressure, which was given to him at a deadly level of 20 to 40 times that of an adult dosage.
In all, Barbieri said nine prescription drugs were found in Jude's system. The pharmacologist also testified that the presence of ethanol in Jude's blood was evidence that vodka, found on the bedside table, had been used to dissolve the fatal mixture.
In opening arguments, prosecutor Matt Bogdanos said Jordan brought 5,918 pills to the hotel with her -- including Xanax, Prozac, Ambien and hydrocodone. Jordan then used a pill crusher, orange juice and possibly vodka to make a poisonous cocktail that she forced into her son's mouth using a syringe, Bogdanos said.
Defense attorney Allan Brenner said Jordan was trying to protect Jude. She was convinced her mob-connected ex-husband was going to kill her, leaving the child's biological father --who she said sexually abused the boy -- to care for him, Brenner said. In her mind, her son would be better off dead, the lawyer said.
The father denies the allegations and has never been charged.
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