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Jordan Brown Superior Court Appeal: Will Pa. Boy be Tried as an Adult for Murder?

Jordan Brown Superior Court Appeal: Will Boy be Tried as an Adult for Murder?
Jordan Brown Mug Shot (AP Photo/Lawrence County Prison via Beaver County Times) AP Photo/Lawrence County Prison

PITTSBURGH (CBS/KDKA/AP) Jordan Brown was only 11-years-old when he was arrested and charged as an adult for the murder of his father's pregnant fiance.

PICTURES: Kenzie Houk

A three judge panel of the Superior Court met in Pittsburgh Tuesday to hear from both sides as to whether or not the boy should in fact be tried as an adult, reports CBS station KDKA.

Now 13, Brown is charged with shotgunning 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, also killing her unborn son, in their New Galilee farmhouse in February 2009.

A Lawrence County judge in March refused to move Jordan Brown's case to juvenile court. Judge Dominick Motto found that the boy showed no signs of remorse and did not take responsibility for his actions.

Two judges questioned whether Brown has had his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination violated by Motto. Some of the appellate judges at Tuesday's hearing wondered whether Brown would be forced to give up his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent in order to be certified as a juvenile.

"I lost my baby and my grandson," Houk's mother, Debbie Houk, said. "My daughter's not coming back. My two little girls lost a mother and a brother they waited on. So, what gives you the right to think that [Brown] can walk away?...The system has been fair."

It could take several weeks or even months before a decision is reached.

Brown faces life in prison if convicted as an adult, but will be free by age 21 if he's tried in juvenile court.

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF JORDAN BROWN ON CRIMESIDER

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