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12-Year-Old Jordan Brown to be Tried as an Adult for Allegedly Murdering Pregnant Woman
Posted by Edecio Martinez 3 comments
Jordan Brown (AP/Lawrence County Prison)
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.
Kenzie Houk (Personal Photo)
"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
Kenzie Houk (Personal Photo)
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.
MEDIA
PICTURES: Kenzie Houk Murdered
MORE ON CRIMESIDER
February 10, 2010 - Kenzie Houk Shot in Cold Blood By 11-Year-Old Jordan Brown, Say Prosecutors
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No, an eleven year old should not be sentenced to life in prison. If an eleven year old child cannot vote, serve in the military, smoke, purchase porn, have consensual sex, etc., then why should he be thrown into adult prisons? Many times a person who has committed crime at a young age later regrets his past actions with strong counseling and support. It is barbaric and morally reprehensible that a first world nation would sentence a juvenile to a prison full of adults where he can be raped or abused.
What also makes me angry, you read about adult women who have killed their husbands or even their children for whatever reason and serve less than ten years in prison. Yet this child has to be thrown in prison for life? Furthermore, do you think if the sexes where reversed, say an eleven year old girl killed her stepfather, would the child receive life in prison? I think they are just trying to make an example out of this little boy. The justice system in this country is weird, I never understood the hang 'em high mentality of many people, and the political whoring that those elected in office do to keep their jobs. Oh, it is interesting how the prison system is nothing but a money making system for certain people to have fat pocketse.
12-Year-Old Jordan Brown to be Tried as an Adult for Allegedly Murdering Pregnant Woman
Posted by Edecio Martinez 3 comments
Jordan Brown (AP/Lawrence County Prison)
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.
Kenzie Houk (Personal Photo)
"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
Kenzie Houk (Personal Photo)
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.
MEDIA
PICTURES: Kenzie Houk Murdered
MORE ON CRIMESIDER
February 10, 2010 - Kenzie Houk Shot in Cold Blood By 11-Year-Old Jordan Brown, Say Prosecutors
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No, an eleven year old should not be sentenced to life in prison. If an eleven year old child cannot vote, serve in the military, smoke, purchase porn, have consensual sex, etc., then why should he be thrown into adult prisons? Many times a person who has committed crime at a young age later regrets his past actions with strong counseling and support. It is barbaric and morally reprehensible that a first world nation would sentence a juvenile to a prison full of adults where he can be raped or abused.
What also makes me angry, you read about adult women who have killed their husbands or even their children for whatever reason and serve less than ten years in prison. Yet this child has to be thrown in prison for life? Furthermore, do you think if the sexes where reversed, say an eleven year old girl killed her stepfather, would the child receive life in prison? I think they are just trying to make an example out of this little boy. The justice system in this country is weird, I never understood the hang 'em high mentality of many people, and the political whoring that those elected in office do to keep their jobs. Oh, it is interesting how the prison system is nothing but a money making system for certain people to have fat pocketse.
