Jordan Brown, 14-Year-Old Boy, Sentenced In Killing Father's Pregnant Fiancée And Unborn Child

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A 14-year-old Pennsylvania boy accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancée and her unborn child will be sent to an undisclosed juvenile facility where he could remain in state custody until his 21st birthday.

Jordan Brown, who was 11 at the time of the slayings, was ordered by a Lawrence County judge on Friday to be transferred to a treatment center. The teenager is to be evaluated every six months to determine if he should be released.

The judge last month found Brown delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the February 2009 deaths of 26-year-old Kenzie Houk and her unborn son.

Houk, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant, was shot in the back of the head with Brown's .20-gauge youth model shotgun as she slept. At the time, she was engaged to Jordan Brown's father, Christopher Brown, and pregnant with his son.

The shooting occurred after the boy's father left for work, with only Jordan Brown and Houk's two daughters, ages 7 and 4, inside the New Castle house. State police investigators say they found a spent shotgun shell dropped along a path that Brown walked with Houk's older daughter to catch a bus to school minutes after the shooting.

Defense attorney Stephen Colafella said no decisions have been made on whether to appeal.

Judge John Hodge approved a recommendation from the Lawrence County Juvenile Probation Department for Brown's placement and treatment. Prosecutor Anthony Krastek said the specifics will not be released.

The criminal case drew attention to Pennsylvania laws governing juvenile homicide suspects and prompted two Superior Court appeals, including an unsuccessful attempt by western Pennsylvania newspapers to open the trial to the public even though the judge had the discretion to close the case because the defendant was under 12 when the killings occurred.

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Comments

[wise 1]

08:05 PM on 03/14/2013

why was there a gun in the house that a child had access to? that's neglect

[flyingonclippedwings]

12:42 AM on 03/14/2013

I find it disturbing that just about everyone concluded this child murdered someone without ever the benefit of presumption of innocence.

I have a feeling this poor child was falsely accused.

There is a serious lack of evidence tying him to the crime.

I believe this child is innocent irregardless of what the government has to say about it. It wouldn't be the first time an innocent person was slandered, libeled, and imprisoned for something he or she didn't do.

[Zaina Hussein]

10:56 AM on 12/01/2012

i cant get over all the people who have this *poor lil kid, give him a second chance* attitude. i see WAY too many kids nowadays talking to their parents however they want to, doing what they want, and having a total lack of respect for adults. i see it a LOT. that may very well be why i only had ONE child. I can only believe, and hold the opinion, that many of you treating this alleged kid murderer with kid gloves, have spoiled kids. maybe not all of you, but im willing to be at least a lot of you actually do. quit letting brats walk all over you. seriously.

[lyricc]

10:08 AM on 09/07/2012

I'm telling you right now..That damn kid looks like the seed of satan..I can't believe he's getting evalution to see if he can be released?????? wtf?? Ok, he waited until his father went to work, located a 20 gauge shotgun, obviously made sure it was loaded, and shot this woman in her sleep.. that is premeditation to commit murder..His ass understood completely the cause and effect of his actions..The father should have near had a gun in the house, period. Most of these parents don't even believe in early discpline, humbleness, and respect for people.

[Stacey Campbell]

06:25 PM on 07/11/2012

Whether Jordan Brown committed this murder or not, it is entirely possible for a child to knowingly commit murder. Ted Bundy was only 15 when he murdered his first victim. John Joubert was only six years old when he began fantasizing about murdering his babysitter by strangulation, and eating her corpse. He went on to commit his first murder while still in his teens. It is very uncomfortable for our society to admit that young children can, in fact, commit murder, but unfortunately, it is a reality. While the prefrontal cortex of a child is not fully developed until he/she reaches his/her early twenties, that doesn't mean that he/she is incapable of decision-making. Jordan Brown's past needs to be thoroughly examined, and he needs to be tested for mental illness. If he did commit this murder, then his past will offer up some clues. No one simply picks up a gun and kills another person without some type of clue that something is fundamentally wrong with that person.

[snakesonablog]

03:27 AM on 06/29/2012

I can't believe the Neanderthal comments I have read here about locking a child up for life.

The evidence against Jordan Brown was circumstantial, at best. A child blows a woman's head off, and there is no blood evidence. Not on the child, not on the weapon supposedly used. He calmly walks to school with his stepsister. The "smoking gun" is a gun shell on the path the child walked to school. Threats made by an ex boyfriend are blown off by police, as is Jordan's statement he saw a black truck outside their home before school.

To suggest an 11 year old should be locked up for life is appalling. This child, if he were guilty (and personally, I doubt he is) should be treated and allowed to live a normal life.

[mee12345]

07:45 PM on 05/22/2012

They better not let him out. If he's killing people at 11, he will kill them when he's an adult. I don't want him roaming around my neighborhood. He needs life in prison!

[markspence]

02:51 AM on 05/22/2012

Is he over 6-foot tall in that mugshot picture taken when he was 11?

[Json]

01:08 PM on 05/22/2012

No. I think he is at 60", or 5ft tall.

[IamPeonyLi]

02:46 AM on 05/22/2012

don't underestimate kids; they're smart. that kid at 11 knew what he was doing and what would happen. the kid could be a psychopath.

[Candid Centrist]

07:24 PM on 05/21/2012

Blowing a pregnant woman's head off then skipping off to school with her daughters like nothing ever happened, this kid is a Michael Myers Jr.!

[mario andretti]

07:22 PM on 05/21/2012

"youth model" shotgun, how apropos.

[Golfnjack]

06:45 PM on 05/21/2012

Sad to say this but we will be hearing about this boy again, and it won't be about him earning his GED while in custody.

[zipperman]

04:04 PM on 05/21/2012

What an evil kid. I say lock him up for good and throw away the key.

[moodi116]

02:24 PM on 05/21/2012

where is his biological mother?

[Candid Centrist]

07:23 PM on 05/21/2012

With THIS son?! She's probably a missing person...

[JanetteM]

02:19 PM on 05/21/2012

At 11 a child knows right from wrong and unfortunately, even with rehabilitation, I fear for his future & anyone around him.

[Lantzali]

02:27 PM on 05/21/2012

They understand right from wrong. What they cannot understand at that age is the gravity of such an act.

[JanetteM]

02:36 PM on 05/21/2012

I am certain that he understand that if he killed his step-mother that she would be dead. That is all he needed to understand. I am sorry, but if an 11 year old can do something so malicious - I have no hope that he will be rehabilitated.