Motion will seek juvenile status for Pa. boy in slaying

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Murder suspect Jordan Brown could become the youngest person ever sentenced to life in prison without parole, one of his defense lawyers said Wednesday.

Attorney Dennis Elisco said the defense plans to file a motion next week to have Jordan tried as a juvenile so the maximum penalty he could face would be incarceration until his 21st birthday. Jordan is charged with two counts of criminal homicide in the Feb. 20 shotgun slaying of his father’s pregnant girlfriend, Kenzie Houk, 26, and her unborn fetus.

But if tried and convicted as an adult for criminal homicide, Brown would face a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

Elisco said that a 13-year-old is thus far the youngest person to be so sentenced. Brown will turn 12 Sunday.

Houk was shot in the back of the head as she lay in bed. Jordan is suspected of killing Houk before he got on the school bus with Houk’s second-grade daughter, Janessa, to go to Mohawk Elementary School, where he was a fifth-grader.

Elisco said that the defense has had Jordan evaluated by psychologist Dr. Kirk Heilbrun, head of the psychology department at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and that the evaluation indicated Jordan is amenable to rehabilitation in a juvenile facility.

On Wednesday, there was a hearing before Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Dominick Motto. During the hearing, both sides presented arguments based on testimony from a July 2 court hearing on motions by the defense to suppress evidence, meaning the jury in Jordan’s trial would not hear the evidence. Jordan did not attend the hearing.

The defense wants to suppress statements Jordan made during an interview with state Trooper Janice Wilson, who went to Mohawk Elementary School hours after the murder and separately interviewed Jordan and Houk’s daughter. Wilson said at the time that she was interviewing them as possible witnesses and that Jordan was not considered a suspect.

Defense attorney David Acker argued that statements made in the interview should be suppressed because Jordan was never told he was free to leave. Although school guidance counselor George Sperdute was present as an advocate for Jordan, Acker pointed out that Jordan’s father, Chris Brown, was not informed Jordan was being interviewed, even though Wilson had had an opportunity to do so.

Acker also argued that the state had produced only circumstantial evidence at the preliminary hearing to prove there was enough reason to hold Jordan.

However, District Attorney John Bongivengo said there was more than probable cause to hold Jordan. He pointed out that there was no sign of forced entry into the house, that there were no tracks in the snow indicating an intruder, and that Jordan had gunshot residue on his clothes and a 20-gauge shotgun in his room which he knew how to use.

The defense is also asking that the search of the Brown home be suppressed because the state trooper requesting the search warrant failed to sign one of the several spots he was supposed to sign on the affidavit. However, Bongivengo said the statement of facts in the affidavit was signed and that the district magistrate is the one who determines whether the warrant will be issued, not the trooper.

Judge Motto said he will decide on the evidence motions within 30 days.