Jordan Brown, boy accused of murder at age 11, found guilty

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Jordan Brown mug shot

/ AP Photo/Lawrence County Prison via Beaver County Times

(CBS/AP) PITTSBURGH - A judge on Friday found 14-year-old Jordan Brown guilty of killing his father's pregnant fiance when he was just 11.

Lawrence County Judge John Hodge found Brown delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the deaths of Kenzie Houk and her unborn child in New Galilee, Pa. in 2009.

The verdict means Brown could remain in juvenile court custody until he's 21. Whether he remains incarcerated in a juvenile facility that entire time or is eventually released on probation will be subject to future hearings on the state of his rehabilitation.

He has been held in a facility about 80 miles from his home for most of the three years since he was charged with criminal homicide.

Brown originally faced the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted in an adult court, where state officials first filed the charges - as is required in Pennsylvania homicide cases, regardless of a defendant's age.

The boy and his supporters insisted he is innocent.

Prosecutors said that Brown took his 20-gauge, youth-model shotgun and killed Houk, 26, moments before he left for school with her 7-year-old daughter. Investigators have suggested Brown was jealous of Houk's unborn son, who died of oxygen deprivation after she was shot, execution-style. Houk was more than eight months pregnant when she died.

Complete coverage of Jordan Brown case on Crimesider

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by connectthedots April 17, 2012 9:18 AM EDT: The fist thing this murdering psychopath will do when he is released is move out of state. Due to his age, his record will be sealed. I pity anyone who is taking up for this murderous monster and has a relative or friend that comes into contact with him at that time. He will kill again. He has no conscience. If he did, he would admit to doing it and show remorse. So far, that has not happened. And if he has not done that in the past three years, chances are he never will.; Reply to this comment

by Kimbakat April 16, 2012 4:47 PM EDT

People are definitely a product of their environment..and I mean that about some of the unintelligent posters here who are truly show their uneducated levels on any form of basic psychology 101 class....and maybe this 11 year old who had committed a crime of passion....probably had no proper parental discussions in his whole life about controlling one's emotions or about the ramnifications of one's actions. Or never told...where you are in life is not the worse thing in life...and that most things are temporary. These are parents who are probably uneducated and do not think things through before having kids.

Kids are not easy...but neither is parenting if you do not have proper education and resources.

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by ahendryx819 April 17, 2012 11:16 AM EDT: oh please. People like you who like to blame the victims are half of the problem. YOU are sending the message to him that it's not his fault that he did it, he should have had better parents. I can tell you, I majored in psychology. I also grew up with a mother who tried to kill my father in his sleep, tried to shoot him, tried to run him over, etc. Did I have the kind of Hallmark talks with my parents that you're referring to? No. Did the thought ever cross my mind to murder one of them? NO. Most people don't have the perfect Beaver Cleaver childhood that you're describing, and they don't turn into murderers at age 11. Maybe YOU need some more education.

by slatep April 16, 2012 3:12 PM EDT

So far; no one has mentioned the number of children and parents who are accidentally killed by a child.

If those on this site who are sure this child is likely to re-offend and should be put to death or incarcerated for life; not screaming like banshees, railing against a justice system that releases adult murderers, child molesters back into society.

No one disputes the fact that a pedophile is definitely going to re-offend.

The courts know this, but release them anyway to torture an kill again.

Maybe one of you; who spew such venom directed at a child; can explain why this allowed to continue and why we haven't heard one word from you about this.

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by connectthedots April 17, 2012 9:19 AM EDT: Excuse me, but this was NOT an accidental killing. He didn't just happen to stumble upon the gun. He actively went and got the gun. Period.

by slatep April 16, 2012 2:45 PM EDT

I am disgusted by the comments made by everybody who made viscious comments about this child.

I'm sorry you have so much hatred in your heart and absolutely no empathy for anyone.

It's haters like you who create children who kill.

Is this the way you judge your own children?

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by ahendryx819 April 16, 2012 3:54 PM EDT: No empathy for anyone?! I'm sorry, but the only person I don't have empathy for in this case is the little sociopath murderer!!! I judge anyone who takes the lives of others out of something so trivial as jealousy. What would you think if he had been your kid?!


by ex-amish May 13, 2012 12:59 AM EDT: To the other user below that commented, they did not follow all leads, in fact she was having death threats from her ex-boyfriend, so I don't think for a minute the boy did it.


by gaerlic April 16, 2012 11:13 AM EDT: wow Littlemary you are such an freaking idiot, i guess the ballistics etc where imagined, as was the gun powder residue etc all made up...

He DID kill the girlfriend and he got what he deserved, he was a jealous little brat that wanted what he wanted. So why dont you go ****; Reply to this comment


by ahendryx819 April 16, 2012 10:49 AM EDT: Oh nice. I pity the state of Pennsylvania when this little sociopath is released in just 7 years. I don't care what age he was when he committed this double murder; he'll always be a danger to society. Look at his mugshot for God's sake!; Reply to this comment


by eaglestform April 16, 2012 9:47 AM EDT: remember he is a child and if he is now raised in a juvinile facility one could expect him to only be what it is this facility makes of him now....one has to question the punishment system we have and how it is privately owned and linked to the stock market....we make money on these children and until that is changed then we can only expect the worse! He is likely not to get the help he needs..whose fault is that???? he is in our hands..; Reply to this comment

by jumkey April 15, 2012 7:14 PM EDT

A "youth model" shotgun. Brilliant. How about an infant handgun? A canine sniper rifle?

Gun owners are morons.

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by catwoman1952 April 16, 2012 10:57 AM EDT: yes, they are!


by SocialWrkrKP April 16, 2012 12:51 PM EDT: One could also argue people who don't own guns are morons. Don't start something you cant finish.


by ahendryx819 April 16, 2012 3:55 PM EDT: No, close-minded people who don't bother to research something before they start calling names are morons. That said, I hope someone breaks into your house on day...

by Jaylah54 April 15, 2012 2:43 AM EDT

Maybe he could lose some weight while he's in that juvenile facility. Bad enough to have a serial killer in the making, but a fat one as well.

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by amerilatino April 16, 2012 8:00 AM EDT: HUH?...Thanks for sharing such a mind-numbingly irrelevant comment, slim.


by slatep April 16, 2012 2:36 PM EDT: It sounds to me like you need to be institutionalized.

What could his weight possibly have to do with ANYTHING.??

Are you suggesting that all those who are overweight should be looked on as possible murderers.?

Serial killer?

One murder does not make a serial killer.

No one has any idea what this child may have suffered at the hands of this woman.

I know plenty people who are divorced and re-marry who should be prosecuted for the way they treat their pre-existing family.

EX: A teenaged friend of my daughter; whose mother divorced and re-married, proceeded to treat this girl like an unpaid maid and baby sitter.

These two people were so wrapped up in themselves and their son; this girl and her little sister were treated with almost total disregard.

To top it all off; the stepfather was molesting her.! When we asked her why she didn't move out (she was of legal age to do so) she said she stayed there because she was afraid he would start molesting her little sister.

People like you; who judge without having all the facts; are a large part of the problem.