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Brown to be delinquent (the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict). Judge Hodge would announce Brown's disposition (the equivalent of a juvenile sentence) at a later date. Under
Pennsylvania law, an adjudicated juvenile offender cannot be held in custody past his 21st birthday. Brown could be held in a juvenile rehabilitative treatment facility only until he turned 21 in August 2018.
265:) to overturn Hodge's ruling and open the hearing to the public. After those newspapers decided not to pursue their appeal further, Judge Hodge was directed by another panel of the Superior Court to move swiftly to hold an adjudication hearing. Judge Hodge ruled that Jordan would not be released pending that hearing.
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overturned his conviction in a 5–0 decision. The two
Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices who did not participate had previously ruled in Jordan's favor on his earlier appeal while they had served as judges in the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The justices attacked the evidence as insufficient and said
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Then the issue became whether Brown's eventual adjudication hearing (juvenile court trial) should be opened to the public, and whether he should provisionally be released while a decision in that matter was pending. Judge Hodge held that Brown's juvenile hearing would not be open to the public or to
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wrote the Court's opinion and noted, "The
Commonwealth’s evidence was, therefore, insufficient as a matter of law to overcome Appellant’s presumption of innocence, and the juvenile court’s adjudication of his delinquency for these serious crimes must be reversed." The last words of the opinion then
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Following three days of testimony and legal argument, Judge Hodge issued his ruling on April 13, 2012, that Brown was responsible for first degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Kenzie Houk and of homicide in the death of her unborn male child. Judge Hodge adjudicated the now-15-year-old Jordan
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Judge Hodge issued a juvenile court opinion on April 19, 2015, again finding that Jordan was the individual who killed Kenzie Houk and her unborn child on the morning of
February 20, 2009. His disposition order was dated May 18, 2012. And again a third appeal was taken to the Pennsylvania Superior
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On June 13, 2016, more than seven years after his arrest, Jordan Brown was released from juvenile custody, two months before his 19th birthday. Judge Hodge put Brown on probation in the custody of an uncle who lived in Ohio, just across the border from
Lawrence County. He was to remain on juvenile
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On weekends Jordan hunted alongside his father, Chris Brown, who purchased the youth-sized 20-gauge shotgun that state police believed was the murder weapon. The youth's father did not publicly discuss the case, until after the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court exonerated his son nine years later in July
285:
On May 8, 2013, Superior Court, in the second appeal that came before it in this case, ruled that "the juvenile court committed a palpable abuse of discretion in rendering a ruling that is plainly contrary to the evidence" and vacated the juvenile court's disposition of delinquency. The ruling in
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Kenzie Houk was eight months pregnant when she was shot in the back of the head while she was sleeping in bed in their western
Pennsylvania farmhouse. Both she and her unborn son died as a result of the attack. Houk's 4-year-old daughter alerted nearby tree cutters roughly 45 minutes after Jordan
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After his
February 21, 2009 arrest, Jordan was placed in the Lawrence County Jail, a facility for adults. But authorities transferred him to a juvenile center in March 2009 after his attorneys argued that the adult jail with its three cell blocks couldn't accommodate an 11-year-old boy.
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request for review was made to the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which granted an appeal to consider Brown's claims that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to sustain the adjudication of the juvenile court, and that its adjudication was against the weight of the evidence.
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overturned his conviction in a 5–0 decision. The justices attacked the evidence as insufficient and said that the juvenile trial evidence pointing to a shotgun in Brown's bedroom as the murder weapon supported an equally reasonable conclusion that it was not the murder weapon.
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opposed the effort to try Jordan as an adult, citing the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole penalty as a violation of international law. A petition signed by nearly 4,000 people protested what it termed as denial of Brown's
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The decertification ruling transferred Brown's case from adult court to
Lawrence County's family court division regularly presided over by Judge Hodge, who handled the subsequent juvenile adjudication and dispositional hearings.
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court probation until he turned 21. His lawyers continued to file appeals in order to have his juvenile conviction (adjudication) overturned. Two years later that resulted in the July 18, 2018 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling.
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that the juvenile trial evidence pointing to a shotgun in Brown's bedroom as the murder weapon supported an equally reasonable conclusion that it was not the murder weapon.
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On May 8, 2013, the Superior Court vacated the finding of delinquency, citing "palpable abuse of discretion" and sent the case back to juvenile court. On July 18, 2018, the
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involves Jordan Brown (born August 12, 1997), who was initially charged at 11 as an adult in the fatal shooting of his father's fiancée, Kenzie Marie Houk, 26, in
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138:, while Pennsylvania courts deliberated his status, Brown was tried as a juvenile and found guilty of being delinquent by a judge on April 13, 2012.
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Brown and Houk's 7-year-old daughter got on a school bus. The state Attorney General prosecutor asserted that Houk was killed by a youth-model
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himself from the case, and Judge John W. Hodge granted the decertification petition and ruled that Brown should be tried as a juvenile.
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As of 2018, Brown was a college junior studying computer science. He has repeatedly stated in interviews that while he suffers from
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initially denied decertification and transfer to juvenile court because Jordan would not admit his involvement in the crime. After
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134:'s Office then took over prosecution of the case. After Brown had spent more than three years in a juvenile detention facility in
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161:. Under Pennsylvania Law, those who are under 15 and being tried as an adult are sentenced to life with parole after 25 years.
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until he reached the age of 21 because he was only 11 when the crime occurred. He was granted transfer of his case into the
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particular objected to the assumption, made by the juvenile court, that no one else but Jordan could have shot Houk.
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near the path Brown walked with Houk's older daughter to get to their school bus. He was subsequently arrested.
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without parole if he had been tried and convicted for murder as an adult, but he faced custody in a secure
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758:"What happened after an 11-year-old boy was accused of murdering his pregnant soon-to-be stepmom"
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126:'s Office initially filed the charges in adult court because that is required in Pennsylvania
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441:"Authorities: Jordan Brown Killed Father's Pregnant Girlfriend; 11-Year-Old Charged As Adult"
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the news media. The Pennsylvania Superior Court rejected an appeal by three area newspapers (
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783:"What life is like today for man arrested at age 11 for pregnant future stepmom's death"
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against Harvey because Houk had claimed Harvey threatened to kill her and her family.
180:, a Christmas gift to Jordan from his father. Pennsylvania State Police found a spent
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115:, which occurred on the morning of February 20, 2009. Jordan was interviewed by
375:"Court overturns then-11-year-old boy's conviction in Lawrence County killing"
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532:"Lawyer Of Boy Accused Of Murder Fights To Have Him Tried In Juvenile System"
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Another possible suspect is Adam Harvey, an ex-boyfriend of Houk. Houk had a
649:"Court rejects Pa. teen's appeal in '09 slaying; suspect now living in Ohio"
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459:"13-year-old US boy's murder trial could violate international law"
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Delinquent of first-degree murder and criminal homicide (acquitted)
514:"Boy accused in pregnant woman's death to be tried as a juvenile"
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Court. In a split panel decision dated September 1, 2016, titled
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twice that day and arrested before sunrise the next morning. The
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Jordan Brown was initially charged as an adult. Presiding Judge
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611:. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 23, 2012. Archived from
609:"Media denied access to boy's juvenile case in '09 killing"
591:"Jordan Brown seeks release while awaiting court decision"
664:"Jordan Brown exonerated of all charges in 2009 homicide"
550:"Court will hear Jordan Brown arguments at next session"
635:"Judge: Pa. boy killed dad's pregnant fiancée at 11"
712:"Supreme Court opinion cites insufficient evidence"
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Held in juvenile rehabilitation until the age of 21
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569:"13-year-old murder suspect faces US court appeal"
373:Sess, The Associated Press, Dave (July 18, 2018).
687:"PDF of 47 page decision, provided by WKBN News"
411:"Judge declares Jordan Brown guilty of murder"
351:, he is committed to turning his life around.
8:
534:. WPXI.com. January 25, 2011. Archived from
395:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
130:cases, regardless of a defendant's age. The
819:Overturned convictions in the United States
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824:People convicted of murder by Pennsylvania
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27:US prosecution of a child for a 2009 death
829:People from Lawrence County, Pennsylvania
814:February 2009 crimes in the United States
489:"Father's support of his son unwavering"
332:, and Brown, now 21, cannot be retried.
324:ordered that "Appellant is discharged."
233:ruled that Judge Motto violated Brown's
735:"Many victims in the Jordan Brown case"
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388:
65:Conviction overturned on July 18, 2018
7:
637:. Associated Press. April 13, 2012.
294:, 147 A.3d 1204 (Pa.Super. 2016) (“
465:. January 24, 2011. Archived from
25:
685:Appeal of J.B. (July 18, 2018).
567:Lidji, Eric (January 23, 2011).
417:. April 13, 2012. Archived from
651:. WKBN News. September 2, 2016.
18:Jordan Brown (accused murderer)
733:Lowry, Nancy (July 24, 2018).
710:Lowry, Nancy (July 19, 2018).
662:Lowry, Nancy (July 19, 2018).
487:Lowry, Nancy (July 24, 2018).
192:The human-rights organization
1:
231:Pennsylvania's Superior Court
223:Lawrence County, Pennsylvania
132:Pennsylvania Attorney General
172:Harrington & Richardson
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316:Pennsylvania Supreme Court
143:Pennsylvania Supreme Court
256:Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
155:juvenile detention center
149:Brown could have faced a
117:Pennsylvania State Police
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113:New Beaver, Pennsylvania
56:New Beaver, Pennsylvania
595:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
328:has attached under the
252:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
314:On July 18, 2018, the
579:on February 12, 2011.
575:(AFP). Archived from
463:Amnesty International
310:Conviction overturned
194:Amnesty International
159:juvenile court system
573:Agence France-Presse
237:rights, Judge Motto
73:Chris Brown (father)
597:. January 20, 2012.
556:. January 15, 2011.
554:Beaver County Times
538:on August 19, 2012.
447:. January 27, 2011.
415:Beaver County Times
520:. August 23, 2011.
321:Justice Debra Todd
227:Common Pleas Court
136:Erie, Pennsylvania
789:. 19 October 2018
737:. New Castle News
714:. New Castle News
666:. New Castle News
337:restraining order
213:Legal proceedings
124:District Attorney
109:Jordan Brown case
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330:Fifth Amendment
326:Double jeopardy
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235:Fifth Amendment
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62:Criminal status
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50:August 12, 1997
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84:Conviction(s)
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791:. Retrieved
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34:Jordan Brown
188:Controversy
808:Categories
793:2019-08-27
473:2016-12-04
377:. WKBN.com
355:References
303:certiorari
46:1997-08-12
619:April 14,
425:April 14,
391:cite news
762:ABC News
741:July 26,
718:July 26,
695:July 19,
670:July 26,
498:July 26,
381:July 19,
205:rights.
175:20-gauge
165:Incident
128:homicide
239:recused
221:of the
178:shotgun
787:WHAS11
767:7 June
259:, and
209:2018.
70:Parent
690:(PDF)
199:fifth
769:2020
743:2018
720:2018
697:2018
672:2018
621:2012
500:2018
427:2012
397:link
383:2018
349:PTSD
201:and
107:The
40:Born
518:CNN
810::
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