Jordan Brown
Kenzie Marie Houk, 26, met and began dating Chris Brown in May of 2008. Shortly after, Kenzie Houk became pregnant with Chris Brown’s child and he moved into the farm house that Houk had been renting in Wampum, PA. Kenzie was already the mother to two young daughters. Brown also had a son, Jordan Brown who was the oldest of the children at age 11. On Christmas of 2008, Houk and Brown became engaged.
On February 20th, 2009, just like any other day Jordan Brown and Houk’s 7 year old daughter Jenessa got up early to go to school. Except this day wasn’t just like any other day. Jordan Brown went into his bedroom and retrieved a youth model 20 gage shot gun, then walked into Kenzie’s Houk’s room and shot her point blank in the back of the head while she was lying on her bed. Eight month pregnant Kenzie did not survive, nor did her unborn son.
After finding her mother’s body, Houk’s four year old daughter told tree cutters that were working around the house that she thought that her mother was 
dead. The tree cutters alerted the police. The 4-year old did not actually witness the shooting, but said that she did see Jordan Brown with the gun and heard a loud bang. The shot gun was apparently a present to Jordan from his dad for Christmas and was designed for children and didn’t have to be registered. Jordan and his father used to practice shooting in the back yard, and enjoyed hunting together. So on the same day that Chris Brown gave his pregnant girlfriend a ring and a marriage proposal; he also gave his son a shotgun.
Now, I remember back when I was around 11 and my dad bought me a BB gun. I wasn’t even allowed to touch that thing unless an adult was around. It was always locked up in a gun cabinet and if I did want to shoot it, I was under constant supervision. I do not like putting the blame on anyone other than the criminal, but come on! Who lets an 11 year old boy keep a shot gun in their bedroom?
Jordan Brown was picked up from school by PA State Police and is now behind bars charged as an adult with two counts of criminal homicide at the Lawrence County Jail. Officials are trying to determine whether the child should remain in adult prison. Lawrence County Warden Charles Adamo plans to ask the judge to move Jordan to a juvenile detention facility because his 300 inmate jail cannot offer proper long term care for the boy.
Jordan Brown had previously expressed some jealousy and hostility towards Houk because of the upcoming birth. Houk’s brother-in-law, Jason Kraner, 34, said “There was an issue with jealousy. He told my son stuff. He actually told my son that he wanted to do that to her.”
Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo described the murders as “premeditated and cold-blooded.” He said after shooting Houk, Brown put the shotgun back in his bedroom, disposed of the spent shell casing and rode the bus to Mohawk Elementary School with Jenessa Houk.
There is a lot of attention surrounding this case due to the child’s age, but Houk’s family strongly believes that Jordan Brown should be tried as an adult.
“He knew what he did when he killed my daughter,” Debbit Houk, the mother of Kenzie Houk, cried. “No one could ever convince me that I could feel ‘Oh, he’s only 11 years old.’ No. He knew all about guns — he knew the severity of guns. He knew the danger of a gun.”
Other relatives of Kenzie Marie Houk said her Jordan Brown once threatened to “pop Kenzie in the head.” Ms. Houk’s brother-in-law, Jason Kraner, said Jordan had told his young son in December that he planned to shoot Ms. Houk and her two daughters, but no one believed he was capable of it.
Chris Brown has not had much to say about the shooting except that it was an accident. I don’t know what his argument is, but I’d sure like to hear it.
This Story Was Written And Submitted By Tress
Editor’s Notes: Earlier this week, Brown was transferred from the Lawrence County Jail to the Allencrest Juvenile Detention facility in Brighton Township, PA. Now they’re talking about moving Brown to an isolated area of the Beaver County Jail, because of the high cost of keeping him at Allencrest, over $4000 a week. Keeping him at the jail would cost about $1,400 a week.
Jordan Brown’s family, especially on his mother’s side, is in complete denial about the events surrounding the murder of Ms. Houk. “I feel Jordan didn’t do this in any way, shape or form, and if he did, we are going to support him regardless of what the situation might be,” said Jonathan Krause, the brother of Brown’s mother, Mildred Krause.
Oh really Jonathan, well, considering these facts of the case, I’d say he did it, and took the time to plan it out too.
Jordan apparently covered his shotgun with a blanket to keep it concealed when he left his bedroom, because it has a quarter-sized hole that appeared to be singed from a shotgun blast, and investigators are testing it for gun residue.
Jordan Brown initially told investigators that he saw a suspicious-looking black truck on the property, causing police to chase down a false lead for hours. When Jordan Brown’s story kept changing, however, police began questioning Kenzie Maire Houk’s oldest daughter, who informed them of what she had seen and heard earlier that morning.
In a criminal complaint released February 23rd, 2009, Jenessa Houk told police she had just finished putting on her socks and shoes Friday morning when she heard a “big boom.” The 7-year-old girl then asked Jordan what had happened. Earlier, she had seen him carrying a pair of guns.
“He didn’t tell me,” Jenessa said in an interview with state police, according to the criminal complaint. She and Jordan then left their two-story farmhouse in New Beaver, Lawrence County and boarded a school bus, apparently unaware that her mother lay dead in a bedroom.
What I see here is a kid who knew exactly what he was doing. He planned it to a tee with the express purpose of getting away with murder. Jordan Brown is one cold hearted, cold blooded little son of a bitch, and someday he’ll kill again if he gets a chance. Mark my words.
Does Jordan Brown Deserve Hell?
- Yes (75%, 199 Votes)
- No (25%, 67 Votes)
Total Voters: 266
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158 Comments »
Who in their right mind gives an 11yo a shotgun for christmas, especially when he’s stated on more than one occasion that he had plans to kill his step mum to be. He has to pay for the crime as he clearly knew what he was doing but the father needs to be charged also for enabling this kid.
I bet people just wrote it off as an 11 year old spouting off. He likely would laugh and say he’d kill her and pass it off as a joke all teh while planning just how he would do it and get away with it. Giving him teh gun…that’s fun…giving him access to it free without supervision…dumbass…but again, we don’t send stupid people to hell.
Even if you thought it was a joke, you don’t go giving the kid the tools for it cos at that age there has got to be something behind it. How would you make that sound like a joke anyway. “Guess what, I’m gonna shoot my step mum and her two kids. Ha ha ha. Everybody laugh now”. I’ve heard funnier material than that.
a lot of people have had those same questions… for one, in rural PA kids are hunting before they can read and it was a child’s gun(not saying its right, cuz i think its crazy, but i don’t think the dad should be crucified for it either)… for two, this kid told his friend at school and his lil cousin he wanted to kill her, no intelligent adults(from what i heard, if i am wrong- correct me)… as far as im concerned this kid is NUTS… and ofcourse the bleeding hearts are saying “ohh hes just a baby”.. but you know what, so was jeffrey dahmer, ted bundy, richard ramirez, shall i go on??
also, this kid knew what he did was wrong.. its not like he killed her and ran and bragged to the little girl.. he hid his weapon, shot the poor woman in the back, brought the gun back upstairs to hide it, threw the shell casings out OUTSIDE and hoped on the school bus like nothing happened.,..i’m 22 years old and I wouldn’t be able to pull that off without freaking.. that just shows how nuts this kid is.. a NORMAL 11 yr old can’t kill someone and go about his day like nothing happened…
save society one less heartache.. lock this evil kid up FOREVER… and since his fam. thinks hes so prefect,, they can pay to house him instead of the state…
and i agree with bizcut… this kid loox f**kin scary… like hes evil or something..
people like yourself and people who write these things about children. without knowing the full facts prove we live in a sick world. how do you know that the bitch didrnt tourment the kid on a dailey bassis.
To e barrows:
People like you are the real sickness, so wrapped up in your own irritations that you fail to put anything in perspective. You assume you understand the facts of a matter better or are somehow more aware than people who are to you subhuman or at least beneath your care, save they deserve more vehemence and scorn than a murderer because they discuss a topic that embarrasses you. Your research skills are not apparent except in their lack and your lack of contribution to the conversation. Your position is not dissimilar from the many self-serving and selfish friends and relatives of criminals who come here seeking redemption or “some other guy’s fault” mentality. You seek to disassociate the crime from the person who committed it, you blame the victim and/or you blame the bystander for somehow being responsible for the crime. If there is no train wreck, no one bothers to notice, therefore, the bystander who watches the train wreck does not cause it, they simply commit crimes or actions that are tangential. Equating those crimes is underhanded (and invariably a fallacy) unless the severity is reasonably equal–did someone commenting here kill a pregnant woman with their words? In some cases it is reasonable to blame a victim for their punishment. A pregnant woman executed with a squirrel gun is going to be an extremely tough sell. You can argue, as I and others did that the facility and availability of the tool (the gun) was an inappropriate act, but to blame the victim in conjecture is unreasonable without proof. As the investigation has been significant, and underlying motivations in cases like these are usually second or third sentence, first paragraph notations in publications, the likelihood of your opine being useful is next to none.
Finally, you may wonder why I’m using a machine gun of precise terms to script our your berating; it is an effort to force you to look at your own words as you attempt to decipher my own from the perspective of a dictionary. Facts are conveyed through language, a few typos and grammatical errors are reasonable, but in my efforts to produce something useful, I’ve been trying to make a WordPress plugin that helps moderators block spam based upon the way people build their sentences. Each comment is compared to other comments from banned contributors, and a pattern is formed to help determine what and if something should be considered for moderation. Misusing and misspelling the word “didn’t” looks like something done by trolls more than angry posts that actually want to convey a point.
I’m Australian and what I find most disturbing from all of this is the fact that these so called “children’s guns” exist. Seriously, what the HELL are people thinking creating a murder weapon designed for children? And don’t give me any crap about hunting, a gun is a weapon first and foremost. This isn’t me trying to rag on your Second Amendment, but the fact is that the right to bear arms shouldn’t apply to an 11 year old, especially to the point where they have their own specially designed “arms”.
@A You ignorance is showing. Please read through the posts again. Spending a little more time on mine.
@ Mulch,
Seeing that I, as a European who has never been exposed to guns, agree with “A”, I would like to read your post to come to a better informed opinion. But after reading all the posts (where I couldn’t find yours unfortunately!) I still agree with “A”. Childrens-guns?!?! That’s just sick… (in MY opinion!)
this is jordan browns uncle (mother side) jonathan krause first off he’s an 11 yr old little boy, if you have had any schooling you would realize that at this age the compentency of an 11 yr old is not the same as an adult. i really do feel in my heart that his father should have charges, as long as ive known chris brown he had his guns locked up so what changed. there was a lot of violence in chris’s relationship with my sister, i personnally defended my sister from this. so when you come from a home with violence there is a high percentage that it will be repeated. so to sit there and say that this little boy deserves life or even death row is wrong. the crime itself is hanious, i agree but everyone has him convicted. did you ever stop to think maybe someone put him up to it? again he was 11 at the time. nobody can say what really happened except god and those that were there. i am still going to stand beside my nephew reguardless of the outcome. we are very sorry for the houk family, it was a tradgedy that they lost their daughter and her children lost someone that cant be replaced. it is a sad situation all the way around. there is no justice in a justice system that needs to be looked at again. by the way new castle, pa has one of the highest unsolved murder cases in the country. so you tell me?
Please leave.
You are a family member. You’re speaking from your heart, not from your brain.
Luckily, the courts are not so gimped.
I don’t like sending kids to hell normally…but this guy…I think maybe it’s teh picture…but he’s got those eyes that say killer. My mom retired as a nurse from a mental hospital and she worked in teh child and youth ward. She used to talk about kids with killer eyes that she knew would never leave mental hospitals while others were just good kids who had no where else to go…this kid has those killer eyes. He knew what he was doing and thought he could get away with it…I bet they will look for video game connections (though they will not find any) to attempt to justify it. This guy will kill again if he’s free…he should be tried as an adult and burn.
He deserves Hell soon before they let him out and he does even more damage BURN satans little spawn BURN!!!
Damn. Bad times to be named Chris Brown. First the singer, now this shitbag parent? In all seriousness though, yeah the dad fucked up by letting Jordan keep the gun. But when it comes down to it, tthe kid knew EXACTLY what he was doing. The kid obviously knew how to handle one, and if he was planning it out to the tune of telling others? Hell for the kid. No doubt.
If a lot of serial killers grow up killing animals… what do kids who have killed humans grow up to do? This was savage but I do think other people need to accept responsibility. Giving a pre-teen a shotgun, especially after he had made threats, is beyond irresponsible. What the hell is a “youth model” shotgun anyway? I guess I need to read up on guns because I was unaware that some were designed for children/youths.
Im going to wait until more information like the ballistics report is available. I have a feeling he did it but I dont want to think a kid could do this.
In one of my classes last week we were discussing whether adolescents should be eligible for the death penalty due to their still-developing brains. The overwhelming current argument is based on the ban on executing mentally handicapped individuals. I took the position that unlike a diminished cap individual, an otherwise normal adolescent knows the difference between right and wrong in MURDER. Maybe not in every situation, but absolutely in murder. I am not suggesting the DP for this kid, I just thought it was interesting.
Anyway, this kid not only knew that what he did was wrong, he attempted to cover it up, he lied to cover his ass, and he went on to school, cool and collected as if nothing had happened. His actions are that of a sociopath. We know that there is no treatment for sociopaths.
I do not think that trying him as a juvie is right. Juvenile punishment should be for juvenile mistakes, and this is not a juvenile mistake. This is a huge double-murder adult crime, and the kid should not be set back out into society at age 19 or 21. He is, and always will be a menace to society.
ahhhh.. I meant to say, of course – IF he is guilty. Although, I find it hard to imagine that he would even be a suspect unless the evidence was pretty overwhelming. It seems like an 11 year old kid would be about the lowest possible ranking on the person-of-interest list.
That’s exactly right Maz..this kid is as cold blooded as they come, and nothing like your average juvenile delinquent. The threats, the planning, and the coverup after the fact – these are all adult actions, and Jordan needs to be treated as an adult. Otherwise, somewhere down the line, he will kill again.
First I have no problem with a kid owning a gun, but a parent should be supervising the use of it. kids are still to emotion driven (many adults are too!) So Daddy deserves some blame for being a dolt.
The kid – to hell as fast as he can go. He’s killed once and any coddling” will only tell him that what he did is ok, it’s justified and that such will be ok again, as long as it can be justified.
While there will always be people becoming monsters, we need to stop this one now, he is a known monster. While some will say he can be rehabilitated, what will be the cost if such an assumption is proven wrong? Others will argue that letting him out will only be a drop in the bucket. Fine – live near this little “drip” I am sure that such a little drop will flood any neighborhood like the Atlantic is just a pond…..
The kid acted like nothing happened – it’s nit like he was putting an end to abuse or anything as such. While a gun made it easier o do, maybe in a few months after the baby was born, good old JB here may have killed the baby, mother or both.
The mother could have been easily offed with a knife, just a little more work.
There are so many ways that the baby, once born, a gun would not be needed, especially if Jordon gained his parents trust to watch he baby….
At “trip” down the stairs
The fridhe
Oven
Freezer
Microwave
Poison
Electric Shock
Drown
This kid would have killed anyway if he was so cold about using a gun.
I was wondering if this would turn up here. It’s hard to make a call on an eleven year old, but I am agreeing with what everyone has said here- unless there is some kind of mental handicap going on, an eleven year old knows right from wrong, and his actions afterwards prove that. I also agree about the gun- what kind of parent allows any gun to be kept out when they have small children in the house? There was a four year old in the house! You lock your guns up! It’s pretty common where I am from for young ‘uns to have guns, but you still have to take precautions with them. I am irritated by the fact that the family is denying that this kid did this.
And hey- wasn’t there another case out of Beaver County posted a while back? Is this the same Beaver County?
Yes, this is the same Beaver County of the nefarious Nicole Spatig, who tortured the dog to death. My neck of the woods!
Kathy- you do have a big dog, or perhaps a firearm, right? Just wanna make sure you’re safe up there, lol.
It’s scary when this stuff hits close to home.
Good content, Tress. It reminds me of the old movie, “The Bad Seed”. Begs the question is a child capable of calculated murder. The answer is yes, obviously judging by this little shit.
However, I do agree with you that the father is negligent at the least in providing his child with a shotgun which he has full access to.
Max, I think the dad should be up for a vote, also. Given the fact that Jordan made such specific and violent threats toward his Dad’s girlfriend, that would have been enough for me to restrict access to a shotgun.
Nah, this little fuck is evil and is a “bad seed”. He should definately be moved to jail and tried as an adult. He has an evil, calculating, and psychotic little mind just like all the others we write about on this site. Why continue to nurture his growth? I say he should be given the death penalty.
lol.. this kid reminded me of macauly colkin in the good son.. lol f**kin creep!!
Jordan Brown is a young man of courage and action. We admire his strength and bold vision. He will be apotheosized to the pantheon of great men, and only at the age of 11!
Oh Christ. This asshole is going to open up the floodgates for people calling the kid a “martyr”. Look, you’re a grown ass man. If you feel the need to look at this kid as a hero, you have no life. It’s always the people like you who claim to have had it so “rough” growing up when your dad was probably loaded with money and your family lives in freakin suburbia. You people annoy the hell out of me.
Ah Tito, this asshole is a troll – We can only wish dickheads like this had some kind of opinion that mattered about anything. Sadly, it’s only about the reaction they get – what a pathetic existence.
I am convinced that this dick is the same as Karl Kain and Stephen Dunkin “No nuts”-as Tito would say. I have to believe that they are the same person because my faith in humanity would be shattered to learn that the troll fucktards are multiplying exponentially.
You have some talent to come up with songs off the bat like that! That was hilarious and awesome, PopTart! :D
Oh Max, I’m positive he’s a troll. But lately it seems these trolls are multiplying like dogs in heat.
I got one for you, Tito: In the tune of “Rawhide”
Trollin’, trollin’, trollin’, keep those fingers typing
Trollin’ trollin’ trollin’ fucktard!
Ficticious name, outlandish thoughts
too bad no females think your hot
Trollin’, trollin’, trollin’, forever going nowhere
Trollin’, trollin’, trollin’ FUCKTARD!
Ha Ha.
Well played poptart1. Well played. *golf clap*
Lovely song!
Gotta hide behind a false name,
Gotta avoid the the fans of sick fame!
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Fucktard
did you happen to fall and hit your head, EXTREMELY hard?
I knew this would get here sooner or later! This kid is an a special level of evil, and he needs to be locked up immediatley! I never thought an 11-year-old would be capable of not only pulling off this crime,but then going on with his day as if nothing took place! I think he if had kept his story together he may have gotten away with this, and that scares me.
Im just wondering what they did when the boy repeatedly threatned Kenzi’s life? I just don’t get why that wasn’t addressed in a better way? I agree with what others have said here, an obviously emotionally disturbed 11-year-old-old boy SHOULD NOT HAVE access to a gun!
Well, like the Nicole Spatig incident, this incident occurred in my neck of the woods. Lawrence County is right next to Beaver County, and the Beaver County jail may be the next stop for this kid. I normally don’t believe children should be tried and sentenced as adults, but I make an exception in this case, mostly for the protection of the 7 year old daughter of Kenzie. The little girl not only told the police that she saw him with the shot gun that morning (I don’t recall mention of 2 guns–just the shot gun which was given to him for a Xmas gift a few months ago), but that she heard the gun go off while he was upstairs, and that she later saw him discard something from his pocket onto the ground in front of their house before getting on the school bus (which turned out to be the shell from the gun). Do you really think this little girl will be safe if Jordan is set free in 7 years? He already threatened to kill her and her sister before he killed their mother. All I can say is that the father made a BIG mistake by not bringing this kid into the Lawrence County crisis center for an evaluation after he heard from his brother-in-law that Jordan had been making threats to “pop” Kenzie and her daughters. In Beaver County, we see dozens of kids who make such threats each day and assess them. Even if we hadn’t hospitalized Jordan where I work, we would certainly have emphasized to the father the necessity that he lock up all guns and ammo in the house. While I don’t want to send an 11 year-old to hell, I do think he should spend the rest of his life in jail. I don’t think it will ever be safe for him to be free.
this girl will NEVER be safe if he is ever allowed to walk out of the jail. In 7 years he’ll still think it was her that put him there; if she did not say anything then he’d be free.
in 30 years he’ll be such a fucktard that he’ll want to kill her just to kill her and anything else that pisses him off.
If he “finds” Jesus while in jail, odds are it won’t be real, he’ll use it as an excuse to get out and terrorize this poor girl. If he reallly converts, he’ll understand why he is in jail and stay there
One other thing about this kid. According to one of his classmates (who posted on a local news message board), this kid was known to be a bully at school. With all these red flags, his father should have known to get the kid some therapy. Which raises another point. The kid’s lawyer is arguing to have the kid released on bail, so he can return to his father’s home and to school To school! While he was in the Lawrence County jail, the lawyer arranged for Jordan to continue doing his school work so his life could get back to normal and he could return to school upon being released on bail! What kind of planet does this lawyer live on? Would you send your child to school with little Jordan?
I know I wouldn’t want my kid sitting beside him in class!!! I also read that he was a bully and that some of his family described him as a “rough kid.”
So let me see if I have it right? Our surgeon general says:
Myth: Getting tough with juvenile offenders by trying them in adult criminal courts reduces the likelihood that they will commit more crimes (Fact: Juveniles transferred to adult criminal court have significantly higher rates of re-offending and a greater likelihood of committing subsequent felonies than youths who remain in the juvenile justice system.);
Be informed and read this. The only other country with juveniles who serve life sentences without parole is isreal. They have only 7. Pennsylvania alone has over 350.
http://www.freesalim.net/and_life_to_go
justice4jordan huh? How about some Justice for Kenzie Marie Houk? According to the 7-year- old daughter (you know, the orphan) Junior here came downstairs saw her, went back up and covered the gun with the blue blanket. He then came back down, stuck the gun into the back of Kenzie’s head and blew her brains out. He was so close they found the wad from the shotgun shell inside her head. He then picked up the shell, finished getting ready for school, and hopped on the buss like nothing happened, but not before disposing of the shotgun shell (again, witnessed by the little girl)
He then lies to the cops about some mysterious black truck on the property, only he gives two different descriptions of that truck. He still won’t confess to killing Kenzie.
These aren’t the acts of a confused juvenile. These are the acts of a hardened criminal, a coldblooded murderer. He’s counting on bleeding hearts like you to get him off the hook – You need to get past the fact that he’s 11 years old and see this kid for what he really is. He has a hard heart, harder than many adults that commit murder. The first time someone disappoints him again, he’ll kill again, and all the intense therapy in the world won’t fix this little sociopath.
Shame on you all. This case is a tragedy for everyone – including Jordan who, had he not had access to a loaded weapon, would be, just like every other jealous child who dreams of getting rid of the competition, just that – a jealous child, with an option to grow out of such thoughts. It is hard enough for adults to manage their jealousy, incidently – for God sake, if you believe in hell, be Christians and love and forgive, and have pity and empathy for an innocent (for that is what he was – do you think he really thought through the ramifications of his deed?) child.
I don’t care if you don’t agree with me – I just want you to know you are not the Lord God Almighty – THANK GOD!
So, you’re saying I’m NOT God? When I vote on a poll that person does not actually get sent directly to hell? Well golly gee, Katy,glad you cleared that up.
Now- as for Jordan being a victim in all this- Can you please explain to me why Jordan was smart enough to hide evidence if he did not think of the “ramifications of his deed”, as you put it? Can you tell me that you know for sure that this kid wouldn’t have found one of a HUNDRED different ways to kill this woman if there hadn’t been a gun around? Because the gun didn’t get up all by itself and walk in there… He took the gun into the room… With the intention of shooting a person. Granted, having access to a gun certianly made things easier for him, but the gun did not cause this crime.
>When I vote on a poll that person does not actually get sent >directly to hell?
Well, why put it that way then . . . it is kind of judgmental . . . “judge not, lest you be judged” etc . . .
> but the gun did not cause this crime.
Actually – I think it did.
We all have different opinions. I don’t want to be personally unpleasant or disrespect yours – so I apologize for that. I suppose I just feel strongly too and wanted to put that point of view equally passionately.
It doesn’t matter what I think – it won’t change anything. I have a son that age – so I think that is why I feel so strongly. I just wouldn’t want him condemned for life, for I know he is capable of totally irrational thought when he is upset or feels hurt. But of course there is no loaded gun around for his own private use so all he can do is fantasize, (like he does about pokemon being alive, or killing baddies if they break in with a karate chop), and given understanding and time he comes out of it, and hopefully will grow up to be a kind, caring adult.
I just feel that has been taken away from Jordan – and truly, underneath I do think the likelihood is that he is a mixed up, innocent child rather than a cold blooded killer. That maybe he is a caring little boy underneath who could not even think of being violent, other rather than play acting his thoughts of going “pop” with his own private gun and feeling like he had some say in his life, rather than thinking at all of the long term consequences for Kenzie and her beautiful daughters. Of course I don’t know, and maybe you are right. It is just that I think that is far more likely, and that it would be so wicked to treat him otherwise if that were so, it is surely what we should all think of first – it hurts to feel a child is being written off as fit only for hell. There are so many deliberately cruel people who stamp on children / girlfriends, burn them, torture them for months – I would just rather they were all named and shamed and voted on sending to hell, rather than this little boy. Like I said, I have a little boy too, and I would not let him have access to a loaded weapon, not bring him up in a home culture of shooting being an encouraged and he-man thing to do. There is shooting every day on tv, video games, etc, etc, and maybe people around him said “I want to shoot this / that guy” etc as a figure of speech when out hunting with guns – we don’t know, and we don’t know how an emotionally vulnerable, with no one to talk to, jealous, lonely little boy might react to such images in his private thoughts of “regaining” importance in his father’s life.
I think his father was stupid and totally irresponsible to let him have a gun. But I don’t think for a moment he meant any of this to happen, so I wouldn’t condemn him to hell either. Supposing this little boy is not a psychopathic personality (which I don’t think is likely, remember) I just hope he cares enough to stand by and support this little boy with a lot of love and understanding through the years to come, and takes some of the burden off him by telling him he knows he regrets it, that he believes in him even when nobody else does, and that he shares the blame.
Peace!
> As far as that whole “judge not lest ye be judged” thing- I have no problem being judged. But I do believe (again, Pastor Mazzi, where you at) that that same book makes several allusions to righteous judgement and how it shoud be used. As in, look at your own sins before you judge someone else’s. I’m okay with that. I’ve never killed anyone and feel pretty comfortable saying that it is wrong when other people do it, and that unless it’s self defense, anyone who commits murder should be held accountable.
Thank you for being so friendly in your post, you are not offending anyone here by speaking your mind. That’s what we are all doing here. As I said in my first post up top, I don’t know what we are supposed to do with a kid this young who does something like this. I am in full agreement that the father should be held accountable for giving his kid access to a loaded weapon, that should be neglect at the very least, but I just can’t see how an inanimate object is capable of making a person DO things. As Kathy said below me, the very fact that this kid is a hunter means that he absolutely, 100% percent, knows what happens when we shoot a living thing. He knew what he was doing was wrong, even as he was doing it, which is why he took the time to cover the gun up with a blanket. These are not the actions of someone acting totally irrational- those are the actions of someone who is carrying out a plan. The fact that he knew to hide the shell casing also goes to show that he was thinking about his actions, and the ramifications of them. He knew that he would be punished if he was caught.
I don’t know if this kid is a sociopath, that is something that they will figure out later. I’m no doctor. I think that the reason that so many people are coming to this conclusion is the fact that this is how sociopaths often manifest. They feel a sense of entitlement (my daddy, my house, I don’t want to share it with you, etc…), and since they are unable to really feel apathy- they do what they want, to get what they want. Maybe someone who has more experience with psychology can explain it better than I can. I think the father comes in to play in this instance as well, because there were probably many warning signs that something wasn’t right with this kid long before this happened. The problem is- if that IS the case- can any amount of therapy ever make this kid ready to be out on the street again. Even if he isn’t a sociopath- how do you recover from killing a pregnant woman on a whim? How does society fix this kid?
There was a serial killer named Edmund Kemper. At the age of 13 or so, he killed both of his grandparents- shot ‘em. They put him in a juvenile facility for a while, then let him out. Several years later, he became the killer of several young college students, as well as his mother and her friend. It’s scary, but some people are wired to do things like this, and they can’t be fixed. Again, only time and study will tell if this is the case wiht Jordan. I am not screaming that this kid should burn in hell (in all honesty, I don’t know that I believe in hell)- but I am firmly saying that I do not believe hugs and kisses are going to fix him. He has now commited murder. That is not going away. What do you suggest they do with him?
diana’s right, you didn’t offend anyone as far as I can see. I wish everyone with a contrary opinion posted as polite, intelligent and well thought out a comment. Please, feel free to argue your point here as much as you like.
BTW, If I came across as a harsh in my reply to your other message, well, that’s just how I am with certain cases, this being one of them. In my heart I believe that Jordan Brown is just plain evil – I can feel it in my bones, so to speak. I came to this conclusion after spewnding a lot of time looking up information of him, picking up little bits of info about him as I went.
I didn’t vote Jordan to hell…but I don’t think he should only have to do 7 years in juvenile detetion. First of all, he knew very well how to use a gun–he had won a turkey shoot the month before, and had experience using a gun. Second, he knew very well the ramifications of using a gun (when you shoot a person or animal, they die). He knew to hide the gun underneath a blanket when he entered Kenzie’s room so she couldn’t see it, and he knew enough to throw the shell casing from the bullet away on the street. He had also made statements to Kenzie’s brother-in-law’s son that he wanted to kill Kenzie and her daughters. This was clearly not an accident, nor was Jordan confused about would happen when he pulled the trigger. Did he imagine that he might end up sitting in the holding cell of an adult prison? Probably not. But he certainly knew that if he shot Kenzie point-blank in the back of her head, she would die. I re-iterate my concern for Kenzie’s 7 year-old daughter, who provided the police with the damning evidence pointing to Jordan as the killer. Do you really believe that if Jordan is free in 7 years that he won’t try to harm her, to avenge her? He was already angry at her for taking the attention of his father away from him. If she were your niece or cousin, would you want Jordan to be free in 7 years?
7 years? Even if he was tried as a juvenile he would be there until 21. That’s 10 years in 10 years intense theraputic juvenile treatment.
Yeah, I think the chance of not getting the next Joseph Edward Duncan are way better with the juvenile/treatment method. Regardless of everything else, science *proves* his brain is not developed.
This guy makes sense:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09055/951219-153.stm
You are wrong.
Do you actually know reality of the justice system? seriously?
so… the only way to keep him from offending again is to keep the fucktard locked up for the rest of his life… then we wont have to worry, or care what he “grows up to be”… or better yet, fry the little bastard.
A true hero. Kudos to Jordan Brown! Well done.
justice4jordan–I’m very familiar with the Allencrest and Schumann juvenile detention centers in the Beaver/Allegheny County area, and I can tell you that they are not “therapeutic.” Kids are basically warehoused there. What we have to weigh in this situation is the rights of Jordan versus the rights of those he may endanger in the future (most notably Kenzie’s daughters). I can understand your point that Jordan has the right to have the chance to be rehabilitated, but I also think society has the right to be protected from someone who has shown that at an early age he is capable of shooting someone in the head point-blank. In the vast majority of cases of child murderers, I’m opposed to sending them to jail for life–but in this particular case, I think the manner in which Jordan murdered Kenzie and her unborn child demonstrates a type of anti-social personality that cannot be rehabilitated with 100% guarantee of effectiveness. But I guess we’ll let the psychiatrists and lawyer determine what is the best course of action.
11 is old enough to know right from wrong. I have an 11 year old son, so i should know.
Im wondering why no one picked up on his behaviour before he committe this crime. Surely there were signs that something was going on with him.
The child is 11 so he can not be a sociopath. Children are never adults and 1st offenders should never be in an adult court where the balance that is required for justice cant exsist for them. Once in the adult system or sentenced to LWOP there is no chance fo any needed mental help whatsoever and children locked up awaiting trial recive no treatment for there shock.
The USA stands alone with Somalia as the only nations who hold youth in such low reguard. This must change, if this child was now in your living room whould you be scared? I think not.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/6/petition-in-support-of-hr4300—ending-juvenile-life-without-parole
Well, luckily he is in jail and not in my living room. Because yeah, the idea of a gun toting 11 year old who isnt afraid to kill scares the shit outta me.
“if this child was now in your living room whould you be scared? I think not.”
Well, that depends, sean, on whether or not he has that damn shotgun. And if I happened to fall asleep, I’d probably be taking my life in my hands.
Comon’ sean, how can you ignore all the evidence that this kid planned this murder and reacted to it like an adult. I’ve been doing this for a long time buddy, and I can recognize a hard case when I see one. Jordan Brown’s heart is cold as ice, and child or not, he IS a sociopath. He snuffed out Kenzie Houk’s life like she was alot of nothing, because he wasn’t the center of attention anymore. People like yourself need to get past the fact that he’s 11 years old and see this little monster for who he really is.
I totally agree with you on this one Max. Most people can’t seem to get beyond the fact that he’s 11 years old to see the evidence involved. He didn’t carry this crime out like a child of his age normally would. No, the evidence shows how calculating he was in carrying this out. Just like I would expect from an adult. Let the punishment fit the crime.
Yup, im with you guys. He knew to get rid of the bullet casings and get out of the house.
If it was a spur of the moment thing, he would not have waited for his mum to fall asleep. He knew exactly what he was doing when he pulled that trigger.
I know it may sound really harsh to a lot of people, but this kid is definately hell bound.
Don’t forget…he also apparently waited until his father was out of the house.
Apparently this sumbitch hasn’t seen my song for people like him. I’ll let him find it if he wants to. He may be a child, but it does not mean he is innocent. I guarantee if you had children you damn sure wouldn’t want them hanging around Jordan or anyone like him, and so help you God if you did. This was premeditated, pure and simple. He planned this out too well to not be considered dangerous. So yes, I would not feel comfortable with his having a shotgun (unless I had one myself of course).
Sean, you are wrong. There exists children who are sociopaths. I come from the mental health field, so I know. It is rare, but it happens. They generally are above intelligence and very calculating little shits. Bad seeds.
Why don’t you volunteer to take the little bastard home with you? Maybe let him babysit if you have children. Spend about a week with him and then tell me he is not a sociopath. You are dumb, Sean. You obviously do not have a clue about what you are saying, so unless you know and have some educational background, shut your stupid mouth. I have the background and I am telling you for a fact. Children can be sociopaths. Now run along and whack off.
Sean, you’re right in the sense that people under the age of 18 are not diagnosed with personality disorders, since their personalities are still forming. Jordan would be diagnosed as having a “Conduct Disorder,” the childhood precursor of a personality disorder. “Sociopath” is not actually a clinical term–it’s more of an adjective used to refer to the diagnosis of “Anti-Social Personality Disorder.” However….all jargon aside….what my colleagues and I all said when we saw Jordan’s picture and read all the articles about him was…”he’s a little sociopath.” Because he does seem to possess the traits of someone with an anti-social personality (which begins in childhood). Some of the traits incluse lack of empathy for others, lack of remorse for wrong actions, impulsivness or failure ot plan ahead, reckless disregard for the safety of others, deceitfulness, bullying behavior, and narcissism (such as crying in the jail, not out of remorse for killing people, but because he had to be in jail). I sincerely hope that if he’s put in juvenile detention, that after 10 years the legal system and the psychiatrists will take a LONG look at him before deciding to release him back into society…because frankly, yes, I WOULD be scared to sleep in the same house as this kid.
” I sincerely hope that if he’s put in juvenile detention, that after 10 years the legal system and the psychiatrists will take a LONG look at him before deciding to release him back into society…because frankly, yes, I WOULD be scared to sleep in the same house as this kid.”
To carry further one of the examples from above – Edmund Kemper .. after being released from Juvenile Detention attended one of his mandatory psych. visits with the head of a girl he had murdered in the boot of his car. The psych. notes what “excellent progress” he was making.
I am not saying that he CAN’T be rehabilitated ….. but, at the end of the day, if we think that he is rehabilitated and we are wrong .. this price it too high.
What a little turd!
Thanks for the reply and thanks Kathy for clearing that up for me, I am learning. I do think that he is a budding sociopath and that this type of person needs help as soon as posible, help he WON’T get in the adult system and help he should and could have gotten(USA needs better access to mental health) before harm was done to innocents. so the point I try to make is not to direct file any youth but let experienced judges in the juvenile system make the decision and theywill know to send the hard cases or repeat offenders on to the adult system. This is best practice and the system for juvenile justice is in place and to often under utilized when prosectors are allowed to direct file first time ofenders, kids and the mental cases. Parents are not held to account for the actions of youth as in some societies, as they should be. In all cases of youth violence the parent should be investigated and made to at least anser to a judge and on the second offence be punished, would this help?
I dunno if it would Sean. In some cases yes, i can see it working. In the cases were the parents are neglecting or abusing their children, or see that there is a problem with their childs behaviour and fail to seek help.
But then you have parents who are hard working and decent and provide love, nurturing, life’s necessities and seek therapy for their children when they feel it is needed…and yet the child still goes on to do terrible things. This is not the fault of the parent and i dont see that they should be blamed or punished for the actions of their children.
Some kids really are just ‘bad seed.’ There are those, who no matter what therapy they recieve or the amount of love and support from their parents, will still commit crimes.
well said, but many nations do at least investigate or question the parents and if warented the parents must at least answer to the court. In SO many cases here the parents do have some responsibility for the actions af their spawn, yet are never questioned. criminal punishment is about vengence, deterent and retribution so IF the parent had responsability for the action then let them share the punishment. When kids commit horible acts it is not always about personal responsibility or acountability in as much as if they were adults, yet when youth are direct filed to the adult system they are often held to even higher sandards than adults in like situations. Kids do kill in more exstreme and seemingly sensless ways then adults do, often more stabs or shots, more henious but that shows the low maturity levle and yes there is planning but not much thought, it shows when they are cought, they are kids.
“there is planning but not much thought”
I will agree with that. Don’t get me wrong .. he knew what he was doing was wrong and he did it anyway …. what really shows that he is only 11 y.o. is the complete lack of sophistication in the way he went about it … he thought that wrapping the guin in a blanket and a story about a “mysterious van” would be enough to get him off. Probably even thought that they would never suspect him … because he is only 11.
I have worked in the area of Criminal Justice for some time … and been very interested in true crime for even longer … and when people ask “Why would they do this thing?” the answer always seems to be “Because they thought they would get away with it!!!!”
Your right, they are just kids. And i wouldnt want to see a child put in an adult prison. All that will happen is that hey will either be abused and their anger and hate will fester and grow until they explode and commit a even worse crime, or they will befriend a bunch of ‘crims’ who will teach them how to be better criminals.
Neither is an option.
So what do we do with kids who act like little monsters and dont seem to blink an eye at such horrific crimes?
The courts could take into consideration any abuse or neglect that the child has suffered. And if it is proved that this was a contributing factor, then definately, the parents should share the punishment. But at the end of the day, he still brutally murdered someone. This womans family has suffered a loss, and how is justice served for them by him getting a slap on the wrist and sent home?
He obviously has problems. Whether he is a sociopath or a psychopath…whatever the label, he needs to be treated and monitered for the rest of his life. He needs to take responsibility for his actions.
From what I understand, Sean, the father was negligent on two counts. First, he allowed Jordan to have unsupervised access to a loaded weapon. I’m not in favor of an 11 year-old owning his own gun…but that’s the hunting culture, I guess….but when not hunting with dad, that gun should have been locked up (as many others here have noted). Other parents have been charged in similar situations when a child has gotten hold of a gun and killed someone, so it will be interesting to see if this is the case with Chris Brown. Second, it was reported to Jordan’s father and to Kenzie by Kenzie’s brother-in-law that Jordan made statements to the brother-in-law’s son that he (Jordan) was going to “pop” Kenzie and her daughters. The child Jordan told this to did the right thing–told his father, who told Jordan’s father and Kenzie. Jordan’s father and Kenzie reportedly “didn’t take it seriously.” This is count two of negligence. Regardless of whether or not they believed that Jordan would actually kill someone, they should have taken him to the Lawrence County or Beaver County crisis center for an evaluation, because SOMETHING was going on. Point three of negligence may possibly be assigned to the school. According to one of Jordan’s classmates, Jordan was a bully at school..were there red flags the school missed? Did the homicidal threats occur at school? In this neck of the woods, there is a zero tolerance policy, and if a kid brings even a water pistol or pocket knife to school, or makes any kind of threat, they get sent to a crisis center for an evaulation. What happened inthis kid’s case? I can assure you that if I would have assessed him, I would have hospitalized him. I can understand the father’s denial–but in this day and age, most parents/schools do bring kids in for an assessment or therapy when the kid makes a suicidal or homicidal statement because this is a very different world we live in from 30 years ago! So I agree with you, that there is usually some parental responsibility in the cases of child murderers.
Thanks Kathy, a 14 yo boy, Brian lee Draper planned a scool shooting with another classmate, chris Nix, who spoke about it and was turned in then got help and is now ok. Brian said it was all Chris and Brian recived no help or punishment, turns out it was all Brians planing to use Chris’s dads guns (Chris’s dad had just died of cancer) Well 2 years later Brian planned and murderd a classmate then blamed my son who said he was tricked by Brian (Torey did proved with DNA he had no part in the killing- they both got LWOP) There is not much info out yet about Cris and Brians real plans, the school is facing mm dollar wrongful death case over their in-action with Brian’s talking at school about killing for 2 years. Brian has real problems including every family pet ending up burried in the yard to writings about murder and shotings as well as the planned school shooting his parents were aware of all this and all they did was to give him a 11 pm curfew. His mom told the investigators ” not my Brian, we dont allow that stuf in our home” when asked about violent posters on his wall. There are broken people who need to be watched more closely, the mental health system in Idaho is not what in should be.
Some parents really do bury their heads in the sand when it comes to their kids, dont they.
My son had some issues that needed sorting out a few years ago. We had come from a domestic violence situation when he was little ( 1 yr old ) and even though he didnt remember certain events, his behaviour and inability to control his anger was proof that the things he had wittnessed had affected him quite severly.
So i took him to a child psychiatrist.
He is now 13 ( on Thursday ) and a happy well adjusted kid. We get the usual teenage problems, but nothing more.
He still see’s a therapist once a fortnight beacuse i think its important that he has someone besides me that he can turn to for good advice.
I really believe that had he not got the help he needed early on, he would now be quite violent. He was heading that way.
As parents we need to be on the job all the time and while we all want to think the best of our kids, its so important that we notice when things are not so good, and act.
we realy dont know just how much things affect us when we are young, but like Amy said we do know enough to act.
peace.
I think Chris Brown deserves hell too!!
WHERE WAS THE PARENT AT? not being responsible apparently….
This is a tough one for me. I read it the other day and had to cry. Did Jordan know what he was doing was wrong? Yes. Do I think he understood the consequences of what he was doing? No. I believe that he was eliminating competition as most children wish to do and the shotgun just provided a deadly result. I am not one to blame guns for people’s actions but in cases like this I do believe that boys especially should not only be taught gun safety but gun respect. I believe that this little boy saw not only his dad getting married but also a new child taking his dad away. My son who is an only child can get very jealous whenever I am holding another child or am talking to someone else whenever he wants my attention and he does act out. Now, truly he does not try to kill me or hit me but what if I kept ignoring him and pretended like I didn’t hear his demands for attention. I think that there are things that make a child act out more than others and from all accounts this boy was from a divorced home and it appears at one time that he was an only child and then he is thrown into a home with a new mother, two step-sisters and new step-brother on the way. I think that this little boy just wanted his dad’s attention and when the threats didn’t work he proceeded to make sure that he was the only one to get his dad’s attention. I do not look at this little boy as evil. I look at him as hurt .
I know that not everyone agrees with and believes that he is evil and I respect that. I just can’t as a mother write him off because I believe that decision that a 11 year old makes should not determine the rest of his life. My six year old son does some really stupid stuff just because and I couldn’t cast him off even if he did do something that would seriously hurt someone else. (Although, God forbid he should) I just believe that child’s mind doesn’t consider consequences only immediate results.
I just can’t seem to get on board with the whole “He didn’t understand the consequences of his actions” thing. This kid took steps to conceal his involvement afterwards, and that pretty much clearly shows that he knew that he would be in some serious trouble. How much more cut and dry can it get? When mothers say things like “My son who is an only child can get very jealous whenever I am holding another child or am talking to someone else whenever he wants my attention and he does act out.” If that acting out involved killing the other people, and/or children in your life, would you be okay living under the same roof as the child? Knowing that he is capable of murder? Knowing, that you are putting other people (other children’s) life at risk?
Lewbell, I understand your side. Being a mother of an only child, I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of jealous tantrums. However, allow me to relate to being from a divorced family. My mother has been remarried 3 times. I have 8 step sibilngs and two sisters of my own. I had every reason to be jealous of losing my mother’s attention. Sure, I may have acted out by being a little b*tch, but not once did I think, “Hey, if I just kill them, all my troubles will be over.” What Jordan did was wrong in every since of the word. A lot of children have it a lot worse, so no I don’t think anyone could come up with an excuse enough for me to take his side. I don’t care if he’s 11 or 99…it was wrong. The shotgun should have never been so available to him, but I’m sure he would have found another murder weapon. Who knows…the shotgun may have saved Kenzie from a more slow, tortourous death. Maybe the sound of the shotgun startled Jordan enough to not shoot Kenzie’s two daughters? We’ll never know, but regardless. I believe what Jordan did was planned. If he didn’t know what the consequences would be, why would he hide the evidence?
“The shotgun should have never been so available to him, but I’m sure he would have found another murder weapon. Who knows…the shotgun may have saved Kenzie from a more slow, tortourous death. Maybe the sound of the shotgun startled Jordan enough to not shoot Kenzie’s two daughters?”
Excellent point, Tress! I can say I have wondered about that quite a bit. Every article I have read said that Jordan was jealous of Kenzie AND her daughters. So it would make sense that he would have wanted them all dead? I think so, and I do believe that if he had not had access to that gun, Kenzie and possibly her daughters would have died another way. This kid is WAY to cold and calculating for me and the fact that he could do something like this at 11 is enough for me to believe that he would do more damage as an adult. Lock him up and throw away the key!
I was torn on this one UNTIL you guys kept bringing up the proposal. “Would you be afraid if this kid was in your living room?”
Oh hell yes! You are right. If it hadn’t been the shotgun it would have been something else. It was cold and calculated.
Not to mention deliberate and intentional, since this little boy KNEW exactly what he was doing, plotted and planned the murder before he did it. He NEEDS to be held accountable, and he NEEDS to be sentensed to the full extent of the law – up to and including
life in prison.
He was bold enough to do the crime? Well, he can be bold enough to do the time!!! If he is let go, he’ll more than likely re-offend again!! He must not get away with this, or else other small children will kill onnocent people as wel!!!
~Malik7.
I can’t believe anyone would vote ‘no.’ The kid knew what he was doing, he looks like a little shit, let him rot for eternity. The Dad should be thrown in with him for being a fucking idiot and buying the kid a shotgun, giving him easy access to it, and just being a general jackass about the whole situation. I’m tired of seeing people do such horrible things and getting petty consequences for it. Yeah people mess up, but do we mess up to this extent? Are we oblivious to the consequences of murder? No.
Murder One is what he’ll get, Murder One is what will be tatooed on his back, so to speak. Premeditated murder!!
This little Boy KNEW about the dangers of guns, he KNEW that what he did was horribly wrong and he KNEW what he was going to do before he did it!!
He told a few a few people that he wanted to kill the woman, he carried out his deadly plan and he shot her at point blank range. He just better get used to his new name; Murdering Evil Little Child,
and he better just plan on spending the rest of his life behind bars!!
There is no; “Oh, he’s just a child. He didn’t mean to do it. He’s not capable of doing anything like that. Poor Jordan is just a misunderstood child. I feel so bad for him.” No! he did it, he’s going to be locked up forever!! No excuses, no alibis, no innocense on his part, just lock him up and throw away the key!!!
What an evil little coward this child has become!!
~Malik7.
This child is clearly mentally disturbed and perhaps if something was done a little sooner then things could have been different. Children should not have guns. Infact i have my own views on guns but i shant go into them. I think that yes this boy must face up to what he has done but surely his father must take some responcibility for supplying a child with a fire arm?
Many (i am saying many and i do not by far mean all) criminals show strange behavioural patterns as a child, perhaps if the jealousy issues etc were addressed and he got some kind of help it may not have happened.
i am not saying this boy is not responcible, does he deserve hell, no but yes he deserves prison for a very long time
Yes, I agree with you!!
His dad might as well have said to him; “here son. Take this weapon and go use it to shoot my girlfriend and make sure that you kill her.
I’m trusting you to do it right. Make sure that you kill the baby also”
This little boy is one vicious killer who shot and murdered 2 innocent people in cold blood!!
All because he has become a self-centered, ragingly jealous, maniacal vicious person who was out to snuff out the life of two innocent people because he didn’t want a blanded family!
He might not have intended to kill the baby, but nonetheless, he did the crime, now he’s gong to have to do the time!!
~Malik7.
I seriously don’t believe this kid deserves to go to hell.. I also don’t think that sending him to an adult prison right now would be the best choice either.. This sort of thing needs to be studied closely.. It’s a pefect example of sociopathic behavior.. For now he should be in a high security mental facility, and when he becomes an adult it should be determined whether or not he should go on to prison.. I might sound like a bleeding heart, but sending a child, even one who has committed such a heartless act, to prison with adults where he will likely be raped (or worse) doesn’t seem like justice.. There is no justice in situations like this.. just sadness, and at best an oppertunity to study the sociopathic mind in it’s earliest stages..
While I respect everybodys opinion I don’t agree with some of them.
He shouldn’t have had a shotgun but I think, regardless of that, he still would have killed Kenzie. He was talking before Christmas of killing her AND both of her children. Its good that he was caught in time to stop him killing both of the daughters.
At 11 he understood the implicated of a gun, he’d been trained in it, he’d won compititions where he used it to kill animals. He knew it would kill Kenzie when he brought it into her bedroom. He planned everything, he thought to hide the gun under a bedsheet so no one would see it, he knew to pick up and dispose of the shell casing, he already knew he’d say he saw a weird car parked infront of the house. He was coldblooded.
The fact that his mother and these other people are defending him is completly disgusting. Maybe it explains why he turned out the way he did with so many adults enabling him.
There is a way that he’d never commit another crime, put him in prison FOR LIFE. Then even if he kills another fellow inmate its not really a loss to society.
Because of this childs two girls will grow up without their mother (at least one of thom will probably be traumatised for life) and a brother they were looking forward to welcoming into life, a man has lost both of his children and the woman he loved and wanted to marry, and a family must suffer forever because he wanted to get his way.
Maybe I am cruel but to me he deserves to live his life inside a prison cell, recounting that day over and over in his mind.
What a spoiled little jealous brat!!
What makes this child and others like him to commit such violent and dispicable acts.
But I blame his dad as much as I blame HIM because his dad gave him the rifle as a Chistmas gift!! He should also share the brunt of thid tragically sad incident. You just don’t give a small child a firearm at all, much less for Christmas!!!
Why is this train wreck allowed to continue?!!
You know, if you use that reasoning, why not blame the manufacturer who made the weapon in the first place? And blame society for allowing these guns to be made? Blame our forefathers for ensuring that we have the right to own weapons!
Look, I agree that perhaps this particular boy was not a good candidate to have a weapon. This specific child should not have been allowed near the butter knives. But the fact is – the gun did not kill Kenzie, nor did Chris Brown. It was Jordan. And no one has ever indicated even to a tiny degree that Chris wanted Kenzie dead. So we have to assume that Chris loved his fiancee and wanted her alive.
If we agree to that, then take it to the next step – when Chris gave his son a gun, does anyone think, even for an instant, that the intention was for him to randomly kill humans – loved ones or otherwise? No. There is pretty good evidence that the boy was actually TAUGHT about the seriousness of weapons and killing. So why would the father have a reason to believe that the kid would actually kill a human?
Look, the father may have not been as attuned to his kid’s mental problems as one would hope, and common sense might have told most of us to get the kid to a counselor (and NO guns) but the father didn’t do anything illegal or even immoral. Maybe a bit stupid, but not even rising to the level of negligence.
Now, all of this is based on generalizations. In this specific case, there may have been issues – the father may have known that the son was deranged and ignored it, when the kid talked of killing Kenzie, he may have been serious and the father ignored it. Kenzie might have been really afraid for her life. we don’t know. But in absence of this knowledge, all we have to go on is what we read, and barring those extenuating circumstances, the father did nothing wrong.
So, if you don’t like gun laws, talk to your representatives about changing them. But don’t blame the father for what the fucked-up kid did.
I completely understand how you feel about this, but be that as it may, Jordan had or has absolutely no business having the rifle in his posession at all. His dad should have known better. He might just as well have aimed the weapon at his fiancee and pulled the trigger himself.
If I had a child of my own that age or any age, no way would he or she be getting ANY type of firearm until and unless he or she is grown and out on his or her own!! I don’t roll with that!
The child went completely over the line, took matters into his own hands and put his own spin on things. So sad!! He deliberately shot the woman, and in reality, he killed TWO people – the woman’s unborn baby also!!
He won’t be receiving the death penalty because he is too young.
But he WILL more than likely be locked up for a very long time! By the time he’s convicted, he’ll probably be 13, and he’ll get life.
So sad!! Like Sherman, this little boy’s childhood is gone, so is his adult life, and he could be spending the rest of his life in the slammer!!
Again, I have to disagree. THIS child should not have had a gun, but MOST young boys who live in rural areas and own weapons do not go around killing people – or even random animals.
My daughter was taught to use a .22 rifle when she was about 8 or 9. We live in a city in a rural area, and many of our friends have large farms and properties suitable for target practice (which is all we ever do – killing things is not our thing.) Most of my daughters friends also experienced guns, and several had their own weapons. Not a single one of them would have dreamed of taking the weapon out without permission, much less shooting it without an adult supervising. Period.
What this child did is proof that HE should not have had a weapon. And that HE should have been properly supervised. And that HIS weapon should have been confiscated or locked up. But it is not proof that NO child should ever have or shoot a gun.
There was a story a few days ago about a toddler who shot her brother with a loaded handgun found under the parents mattress. That is a direct result of the parents stupidity and negligence. I own several handguns and even now that my daughter is a *legal* adult I don’t leave them loaded. I guarantee you that there is ZERO chance that my kid could have accidentally gotten hold of a loaded (or unloaded) gun in my home when she was young. Because some dumbass idiots act irresponsibly, should I have been forbidden to have pistol when I had a toddler in the home? Even though I had a locked gunsafe and exercised extreme caution with my weapons?
I think that anyone who respects our constitutional right to keep and bear arms has to agree that responsible gun owners should not be painted with the same brush as crazy, careless or negligent people. And, if so – then you have to agree that allowing a responsible, cautious parent to teach their child to shoot is completely different than a parent who gives the kid a gun as if it were just another toy. But you can’t take away the rights of the responsible citizens simply because irresponsible people allow bad things to happen.
In this case, as I said – if the father was negligent then he needs to be punished. but if he truly did not know that his son was capable of this act, then he is just stupid – and stupid isn’t a crime.
Kids are immune to Hell. haha
Well, let’s just see how tough & immune to hell THIS little boy will be when he realizes that he won’t be coming home to papa! When he realises papa won’t be tucking him in bed at night and reading him a bedtime story. When he won’t be gently waken up by papa in the morning to get ready for school. When he won’t have the freedom and childhood that he once had before he decided to brutally & viciously murder an innocent person! When he realises that he’ll be behind bars for the rest of his natural life!
He will have plenty of time to think about what he has done. The judge will make him skip juvie and go straight to an adult prison, because he faces adult court treatment.
A raging mad crazed jealous little murdering monster at onlt 11 years old!!!!! No special treatment for HIM!! He’ll be crying for help and no one will be able to help him get out!!! He bought the farm, let’s see if he can feed the pigs!!
The victim’s family is outraged, grieving and irate that this little boy took the life of their loved one, and are making sure that this boy gets adult court treatment – even though he was moved to a juve center for now, at least until his trial begins.
~Malik7.
I’d like to know if this little boy has had problems in the past.
The dirt should all come out when his trial begins!
~Malik7.
I know he had a reputation at school as a bully Malik. This wasn’t some innocent, “good as gold” kid who just snapped. He threatened to kill Kenzie, planned and carried it out so he could get away with it, and lied to the cops for hours after he blew the back of her head off.
For me, all you have to do is look at Jordan Brown’s mug shot to see how evil that little son of a bitch is. Look at his eyes. there’s nothing there. He’s dead behind those eyes, like a shark. I’ve never seen that in a child, ever. He deserves to burn like any adult.
Yes, you’re so right!!
He didn’t just get that way overnight, the murdering and ungrateful little shit!
And yes, he plotted, planned and orcestrated the whole thing! Told his friends, relatives and schoolmates what he was about to do.
But of course, at that time, no one thought that he would actually do it. No one took him seriously enough.
When a small child warns that he or she is going to attack, murder or hurt someone, it should not be taken lightly at all! But i STILL blame his dad as well for giving him the rifle. It was needless, stupid and inexcusable!
~Malik7.
i must have miss the part about the gun was his a child with his own personal shot gun. glancing through the comments really let me read back. Is dad in jail as well now that you think about it that was no kid no child that was the stream of satan seed charge the father
Yeah, his dad DID give him the rifle, his own personal weapon, like you said.
And now, Dad is mourning the loos of his fiance` and his unborn child, which would have happily been a welcome addition to the family.
But his ragingly jealous little boy snuffed out both of their lives, changed the scope of everything, and is facing the possibility of life in prison!!
This evil little boy needs to be held accountable, because if he’s let go, he’ll more than likely re-offend again!! And yes, his dad also needs to be held accountable as well!
Hey Malik, you seem to be very knowledgeable about child murderers like Jordan Brown and Sherman Burnett Jr. Do you have a Blog or a website? I’d be interested in hooking up with you and discussing some of these kids with you, if you have the time.
I don’t have a blog or a website.
But yes, there ARE several stories of young children at or near Sherman & Jordan’s age who have acted out in a fit of rage and murdered people.
Lional Tate for one, when he supposedly accidentally killed Tiffany Eunick. And a raging mad 12-year-old boy who killed a baby because she wouldn’t stop crying!
why didnt he live with his own mother? you know the one that said she would “support” him no matter what. Support him away in jail .. I wouldnt want Satans spawn in my house or around me or my kids EVER!
There is no denying what this little boy is capable of doing. He already showed what he can do.
He was bold enough to pull the trigger, then he sholuld be man enough to accept his punishment in true fashion. And since he’s way too young for the death penalty, the only other thing is life in prison, when means that the rest of his childhood and his adult life
are all shot to hell.
Sorry, but I just don’t feel sorry for him. He knew what he was doing
and why he did it! Let him sit in prison and think about the evil dispicable crime that he’s done!!
Guns of any type should always be locked away where children and teens can not get to them. Period. If a parent allows their child to use a gun while hunting or whatever the case may be, then the parent needs to be responsible and only allow the child to use the gun in their presence. Once they are done, the parent should lock up the gun immediately so that the child does not have any access to the gun. Children or teens have no business being allowed to have access to guns when they are not supervised by a responsible adult. The whole issue of children and teens being allowed to have access to guns is a very touchy subject because their are many different opinions on the matter. Whether or not you agree or disagree with the issue, I am sure that everyone would agree that children and teens should be supervised when they are using guns and that parents should be responsible for insuring that the guns are properly stored and locked away. This case clearly shows that this young man should have never been allowed this much freedom and access to a gun. There were warning signs because of his statements to others and the jealousy he displayed, but it’s too bad that no one took his statements seriously enough to have the matter investigated further. Now you have a family that is torn apart, two young children that no longer have their mother, and many people with many questions wondering how this situation could have been prevented. My condolences go out to Ms. Houk’s two daughters and her family for the loss of Ms. Houk and the little baby. R.I.P.
This little boy is going to have to man up sooner or later and live with what he’s done.
I’m willing to bet that this evil little brat will expect people to feel sorry for him and have some smpathy for him in court, but he’ll get none!!
Look at the look of evil in that little boy’s eyea & face. Cold-hearted and calculating!! Scary!!!
A mean and nasty little murderer who plotted and carried out a grusome murder way beyond comprehention!! He needs to be locked up for good and never be given any parole at all!!!
wow…there are some very long winded comments here. All I have to say is if this selfish, evil, little prick ever is free and comes back to Mohawk, my son will be changing schools.
Proof that you don’t have to have an adult around who is angry enough to kill you.
A small child like this one can maim or kill someone just as horribly!
This evil little shit did his dirty work on an unsuspecting innocent person while she was asleep and her guard was down!!!
~Malik7.
I find it fascinating that some of you people will condemn a 20-year-old for raping a 14-year-old “baby” (even if it’s consensual and thus statutory rape only), yet here we have an 11-year-old whom you’re perfectly willing to see tried as an adult and disparage as an “evil little bastard” and so on an so forth, who is by many of your definitions, still a baby.
This is a fun site to read due to natural morbid curiosity, but some of you readers have double standards longer than an airport runway.
I didn’t read ALL of the comments, but . . .
Am I the only one who was mortified at the fact that the gun “was designed for children and didn’t have to be registered”?
So people in are guns made especially for little kiddie fingers that can do just as much damage and can be bought by anyone without registration?
And then something like THIS happens. Who woulda thought?
About the gun thing, you always supervise minors with guns and you should know your kids before you buy them a gun, but maybe this kid hid his dark angry side from his dad, maybe when he and dad were out hunting it was all good, buddy buddy, my boy wouldn’t hurt anyone…..I grew up in a rural area where kids started hunting with their parents at 8 or 9, -not my thing-I did trap shooting which was also very popular and target shooting-I don’t know of anyone who killed someone by accident or intentionally with a gun in our area, and we had some messed up angry people with multiple step family, divorce, crazy issues down there which makes me think if it wasn’t the gun, it would have been something else used to kill step mom. I have never found anything that would indicate the step mom was mean or otherwise deserved any of the intense anger and hatred this kid had for her, it appears he hated her just because she had stepped in and was changing his life around. I think if Dad had locked the gun up, never given it to him or bought it, this kid would have still found a way to get rid of step mom and probably her kids. I think he would have stabbed them or started a fire or something because he was so methodical and had thought this out probably for a long time. I don’t think we should focus so much on his age-kids his age and younger have been child soldiers all over the world and shown quite capable of killing, but the intentional, methodical hatred and the way he planned and carried out this murder point to someone quite evil. Quite possibly if he had waited and grown more “sophisticated” he would have devised a different method-maybe accident fire-that he would have gotten away with.
Vain-Inglorious:
I presume that the 14 year old “baby” you speak of didn’t violently end the life of a sleeping pregnant woman. This 11 year old did. Which goes to show a lack of hipocracy IMHO, because we are abhorrant of cold blooded murderers, regardless of their age. As far as your refference to the 20yr. old/14 yr. old statutory rape case, I am curious… which story are you talking about specifically, because it doesn’t ring a bell….
Purposely misspelling my user name in an insulting fashion is a wonderful way to demonstrate your maturity and support your opinion.
Speaking of misspellings, the word you’re looking for is actually “hypocrisy,” not “hipocracy” — and yes, I see a good deal of that around here from time to time.
The “refference” I made was hypothetical. I wasn’t referring to any specific case, but rather to dozens of cases in which crimes against teenagers are committed, and said teenagers are referred to by the PYSIH readership as “babies” or “angels” or what-have-you. There are plenty of them out there.
It’s my position that someone who is eleven years of age doesn’t necessarily have a complete grasp of the finality and consequences of his or her actions, whether or not said actions are premeditated and deliberate.
Furthermore, it bothers me that some people believe a very young criminal should be treated as though he or she has an adult understanding of the world. They usually don’t, for the same reason that young victims can’t know and don’t deserve the horrors some twisted adults visit upon them.
An 11-year-old deserves a second chance regardless of their actions. It annoys me that the PYSIH readership grabbed their torches and pitchforks to go burn the monster at the stake yet again in this case.
Aye thank iffin theys let the lil killeR out, him shuld go n live at yer howse.
Then you can rehabilitate his ass.
As for me and my kids, eh… No thanks.
Good Luck Sleepin.’
That’s exactly what the child needs: rehabilitation and re-education. Unfortunately, American society is awful at accomplishing either of those things, and attitudes like yours don’t help. You’d rather see him thrown away like a piece of unsalvageable garbage to rot in Hell, never mind that God forgave many Biblical figures (and adults, at that) for far more heinous crimes when they changed their behavior and repented.
No, I certainly wouldn’t allow the child into my house or around my friends and family, given his proclivity for committing violence on a whim… but that doesn’t mean he should spend most of his life in prison, that he can’t be rehabilitated, or that he deserves Hell.
O.K. You don’t want him in jail or commited, and you won’t take him in, and he’s certainly NOT sleeping over @ my place, so what do you suggest that “We” as a society do with him? I’d love to hear your ten year plan for fixing Mr. Jordan Brown. You are so quik to condemn myself and others for not wanting this kid unleashed on society. So come on…let’s hear it… convince us.
If there were any rehabilitation programs in place in this country, I’d point to those. Unfortunately, there aren’t. There’s juvenile detention, which does absolutely nothing, and the general prison system, which simply teaches inmates how to be better criminals. There are also psychiatric facilities, which mostly just house people, feed them drugs, hold useless group therapy sessions, and are generally ineffective.
Have you ever watched one of those shows like Super Nanny on television? Those serve as at least marginal proof that the behavior of children can be dramatically changed by how their caretakers interact with them. Children (and teenagers) who act like monsters, punch their parents, scream and break things, don’t have to be that way, and in 99% of cases aren’t born that way.
The fact that this 11-year-old child had access to a fully functional shotgun is ample proof that he wasn’t being properly parented to begin with. I have a strong suspicion that his father wasn’t exactly a model of proper child rearing.
This sort of thing (children and teens shooting people) almost never happened in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. In the 1990s and 2000s, however (Columbine being the famous example), incidents have been sharply on the rise. I’m sure it’s the children’s and teenagers’ fault though, they must have evil genes. Society couldn’t possibly be to blame in any way.
To answer your question, my “ten year plan” would include dedicated caretakers who would oversee this child’s continued education and development properly, and that he could then be “unleashed on society” as a responsible, healthy human being when he reaches his majority.
Unfortunately, there are no such caretakers. Americans are far too concerned with owning overpriced cars and whining about taxes for such programs to exist.
How does that teach an 11-year-old the finality or consequences of their actions?
There are no good old days, there are only days. There were riots in the 60’s(do you remember desegregation? The government purposefully and in some ways, rightfully suppressed statistics unfavorable to desegregation, because their collection methods were unsound and did not paint the entire picture), rapes and murders in the school house in the 40’s and 50’s and yes there were guns and killings, but the incidents have increased as the populations and schools have grown.
This story is different though. This story is about a firearm that should have been secured, should have been registered and should have been safely stored in a gun cabinet. Shooting a pregnant woman in the back of the head is a broken and inexcusable thing to do, and it will haunt this child til the end of days, but this gun, which I can only imaging is a squirrel gun isn’t the sort of thing that an 11 year old should have had access to.
I don’t know if we’ll see this kid in Hell. My gift in life is memory, so I remember what it was like to be 11, I remember boyscout camp, and the sudden angry urge to kill the boys who took my towel and clothes when I was in the communal shower, and I remember taking a towel from someone else, running and changing, and bringing their towel back. I remember shooting at the 22 range, and thinking how easy it would be to shoot one of the boys who’d done it, but I had no urge to do it. I knew the difference between right and wrong, even at so tender an age, and the idea of shooting a woman, let alone a pregnant woman would have been impossible.
Firearms are about respect for a tool. Most kids who learn how to use them well, start with a pocket knife, and learn how to clean and sharpen it. You learn that if you take it out at the wrong time, they take it away. If you achieve some milestone, you get to carry your own rifle when you hunt or a belt knife when you camp or are on the farm. If you leave so much as a hammer out of place, you get in trouble, and you lose your privileges. I think the biggest issue with this case is not the anger of some of the commenters on this blog or the lack of rehabilitation camps or programs for this child, but a lack of institutionalized gun training, that would have taught this child to respect his gun, at the same time he learned that it was a weapon that could kill someone.
That’s the reason I’d also blame the father in this one.
Jason,
You are ever eloquent, and never cease to garner my respect. That boy NEVER should have had free access to that gun, but I have to wonder if he would’ve found another way.
Vain,
Well, I see that you feel very strongly in regards to the need for reform for juveniles, and it may surprise you to find that in many cases, I would agree with you, however this isn’t one of them. I can not literally condemn anyone to Hell, I’m not God, but I do beleive that certain crimes are so grossly offensive to the standards of plain old human decency, that serious consequences must prevail. Did you read the story about the Dunbar Gang Rapists? Those boys were not much older than Jordan when they did what they did, and while the general consensus is outrage, there are people who feel about them the way that you feel about Jordan here. So I have to ask, @ what age do you think it appropriate for someone to be responsible for the actions of rape or murder?
There has recently been a story in the news about an 8 year old in AZ, who got mad @ his dad for spanking him, so he shot both his father and his father’s roommate. I think of my son, watching Indiana Jones and then running around with his “Powpow,” shooting at stuff, and I have to wonder if the 8 year old understood the finality of his actions, or if he thought it was “just a movie.” That is a case where I think years of rehabilitation and serious therapy are demanded and may do some good.
As far as Jordan, yes. Eleven is YOUNG. And if this were a child who had no access to guns and found one in a fit of anger, well I don’t know if we would be seeing him on this site.
Unfortunately, the reported actions this kid took against that poor girl and her unborn baby were premeditated, and executed with a terrifying cleverness. He was trying not to get caught, and he was pretty freakin’ methodical about it. You state that he should be held until he reaches his “majority.” What exactly do you think that should be? 18 ? 21? 25?
I am interested to know.
The youthful Dunbar gang rapists were, I feel, almost certainly a product of their environment and upbringings. They clearly fit the mold of a classic poor, ill-educated gang of young black men, who hail from underprivileged neighborhoods and, as most of us should be aware, have an entirely different view of life than educated, middle-class Americans.
I realize PYSIH folks generally hate it when someone’s criminal actions are blamed on their upbringing, but it’s scientific fact that nurture has at least as dramatic an effect on someone’s behavior as nature (i.e., genes), if not moreso. I’m familiar with the Dunbar case, but I’ve also seen Discovery Channel specials in the past depicting “feral children,” one of whom was found raised by a pack of dogs. This Russian girl ran on all fours, barked, panted, yelped, drank and ate like a canine; however, she was able to learn language and human behavior (at a developmental disadvantage) once she was found by scientists.
So in my mind, one’s formative experiences have a huge impact on the way one acts. Only a tiny percentage of people are “born bad,” without any conscience or possessed of genuinely uncontrollable psychotic tendencies. Ted Bundy is a famous example of being born bad, since he had a loving upbringing, a good education, and even smarts, charm and good looks.
If the Dunbar youths had been raised by financially stable, loving, nurturing parents, away from an environment of fear, poverty and glorified evil, I’d literally stake my life that the crime never would have occurred.
So who is actually to blame? Well, we still have to hold individuals responsible for their actions. But since this likely never would have occurred in the first place if their upbringing hadn’t been completely fucked up, I don’t think they should take all of the blame. Society and their parents and neighborhoods share it in equal measure.
As for whether the Dunbar rapists or Jordan Brown can be rehabilitated now that they are who they are, I don’t know. It’s not my field of expertise, and since we as a society don’t have any proven or successful rehabilitation field of study / program / etc. in place, it’s impossible TO know.
Child rearing is spray-and-pray still. We can only hope a child isn’t born to irresponsible, violent, dirt-poor retards, or if they are, that they’re exceptional (or lucky) enough to overcome their circumstances.
Sad to say, it is a crap shoot, although I agree that the majority of the resposibilty does lay @ the feet of the parents/caregivers. People of all economical status fail their children, and there are plenty of examples of folks who were raised in poverty, by abhorrent abusers, and yet somehow they manage to rise above it all and become effective and productive and sane parents themselves. I think you and I are gonna have to come to a draw on this one, although I can say with great certainly that we agree on one thing… the system is fucked up.
I really think Jordan Brown should stay behind bars and pay for his crime just like an adult would if they kill someone. And I really think his father Chris Brown should be charged for having numerous guns out in the open without having them locked away in a locked gun vault, remember the kids up in Pittsburg, Pa that were playing with the one kid’s father’s gun-that one kid died after the gun went off!
The other kid’s father was charged for failing to have his guns locked away in a locked gun vault. And what father in their right mind gives their 11 year old son a gun(when he knew his son kept threatening his girlfriend with harm)? To me it was if the father killed Kenzie himself, he should have known better. Jordan’s lawyers
keep playing the “pity-party” saying poor Jordan and him being a child and all, well what about poor Kenzie and her precious baby boy that he murdered in cold blood where’s their justice??? and what about her two little girls they are now mother-less they can’t see or hug her anymore-and Jordan he gets to see his Daddy every day they can’t see their mother like he can see his father everyday.
Jordan and his Father Chris used to live in two local trailer parks and he was nothing but trouble in each park, back then he had alot of anger problems and he was only 9. If Judge Motto lets him off then the message is he can kill someone and get away with murder,if someone else kills someone then they get charged with the crime and stay behind bars for a long time. And then there’s the
police they messed up big time, they failed to deliver their evidence
(DNA and GSR) against Jordan!! Then there’s the fact that they didn’t have his father or his lawyer present while questioning him(even though they told him he wasn’t a suspect) first of all why wasn’t that police woman in uniform and why didn’t she read him his rights???? If this would have been a big city murder the CSI’s and the police wouldv’e done thier jobs the right way. I’m not saying the police involved in this case are wrong they just mightv’e let their case against Jordan Brown slip through their hands and this won’t help bring closure to Kenzie and her unborn baby who were murdered nor the surviving little girls or family of Kenzie Marie Houk
If Dr. Cyril Wecht was on the job this murder would’ve been solved.
This case is all too powerfully familiar with and similar to the one where two little boys ages 11 & 12 at the time, had plotted, planned and successfully carried out a deadly planned to shoot and kill classmates at their school!
Several students were killed and scores were badly maimed. Whatever happened with those two boys? Were they ever tried and convicted for the dispicable crime?
~Malik7.
What I see here is a kid
The words above are what writer states……………………
and…………..Yeppers a really effed up one at that I have to agree, but…., what are we dong culturally that produces little monsters like this that need to be caged forever for our personal safety as well as the general welfare? OR perhaps just as important what does create this anomaly in a kid this age or is it inherent……… if it’s inherent we are fricking DOOMED
(Feb. 10) — On a chilly morning in February 2009, state police found 26-year-old Kenzie Houk in her bed with a bullet though her head. She was eight months pregnant.
The search for her killer ended with the most surprising murder suspect residents of Wampum, Pa., had even seen: 11-year-old Jordan Brown, the son of the victim’s fiancé.
He is one of the youngest suspects in the country to be charged with homicide, legal experts say. There are two counts of homicide, one covering the fetus.
Lawrence County Prison, AFP/Getty Images
Jordan Brown, now 12, faces homicide charges for the death of his father’s fiancee, who was 8 months pregnant at the time.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May.
In Pennsylvania, there is no lower limit for the age someone can be charged as an adult with criminal homicide. If convicted, Jordan, now 12, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The question of age is being raised in the Supreme Court this year where the practice of sentencing young people younger than 14 to life in prison without parole is being challenged.
After nearly a year of silence, Jordan’s family, friends and attorney are bringing attention to the case as more court hearings loom. They say Jordan is innocent and should be tried in juvenile court. This month, they will launched the Jordan Brown Trust Fund to raise money for his defense.
A decertification hearing, at which Jordan’s attorneys will ask the judge to move the case to the juvenile system, began this month. A decision on whether the case will be tried in the juvenile system or adult courts will likely be made in March, attorneys say.
The suspect’s father has not publicly discussed the case, and CNN has been unable to reach him for comment.
“Our first step is decertification, because we feel like he is amenable to juvenile rehabilitation,” said attorney Dennis Elisco of New Castle, Pa. “Not only do I know he’s amenable, but I know he’s innocent.”
The Houk Family / AP
Kenzie Houk poses in an undated family photo with her daughters, Jenessa and Adalynn. Houk was shot in the head in February 2009, at age 26.
In almost half the states across the country, children can be prosecuted and tried in adult court, according to the University of Texas’ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Many of the laws were passed during a time when juvenile crime spiked in the 1980s and 1990s.
But sentencing experts say a majority of homicide cases involving children as young as Jordan are tried in juvenile courts, where the records remain sealed and sentences are less harsh.
At the time of the slaying, Jordan was a chubby fifth-grader with dark brown hair and an energetic smile. He liked riding bikes and reading Harry Potter books. Since the third grade, he played quarterback in his community’s football league.
Family and friends describe him as an “all-American boy.”
On weekends, Jordan hunted alongside his father, Chris Brown, who purchased the youth-sized 20-gauge shotgun state police believe was the murder weapon. The gun was given to Jordan as a present for Easter, and the boy’s lawyers say he only used it for hunting.
Jordan’s family friends say they never saw him exhibit any violent behavior. And he had no prior brushes with the law.
“He always got along with everybody, and he was always smiling,” said Lonnie McConahy, 43, a co-trustee of the Jordan Brown Trust Fund. “It was always ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, ma’am.’ ”
After his arrest, Jordan was placed in the Lawrence Country Jail, a facility for adults. But authorities transferred him to a juvenile center in March after his attorneys argued that the adult jail couldn’t accommodate an 11-year-old.
Most juveniles who enter the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Detention Center come and go within a few weeks. But Jordan has spent a birthday and Christmas there. He missed a much-anticipated fifth-grade overnight field trip to Gettysburg and didn’t get to play his final year on the junior football league.
His attorneys say Jordan is still unable to grasp the magnitude of what is happening to him. He is doing well in counseling, his attorneys and family say.
Jordan’s detention facility locker holds his books and board games. His school friends and football teammates shower him with letters, cards and magazines.
He is showing signs of reaching puberty. He has grown several inches and has gained about 20 pounds. He’s starting to look like a teenager.
Although it is rare to charge someone so young as an adult in the United States, the prosecutor in the case says Pennsylvania law left him with little choice.
In the case of homicide, “my choice is either to charge him as an adult, or don’t charge him,” said John Bongivengo of the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office. “Not charging him at all wasn’t feasible.”
It also is rare for an 11-year-old to commit a violent crime. In his 30-year analysis of juvenile homicides, Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox found about 500 cases of children younger than 11 who were suspected of murder.
Brain science has been central to the debate on whether juveniles should be punished as adults. It’s only in the past decade that there’s been any significant scientific research on the adolescent brain. .
Laurence Steinberg of Temple University explained why juveniles lack control.
“The teenage brain is like a car with a good accelerator but a weak brake,” wrote Steinberg, who is considered among the foremost experts in the field. “With powerful impulses under poor control, the likely result is a crash.”
The U.S. Supreme Court took into account the growing body of adolescent brain research in 2005 when it banned the death penalty for juveniles.
“For all of the reasons the Supreme Court has rejected imposing the death penalty on children and all the new brain research, those reasons are magnified when thinking about a child as young as 11,” said Marsha Levick, director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia.
Jordan’s defense argues that there are no witnesses to connect him to the crime, but prosecutors are relying on the statements of the victim’s oldest daughter, who was 7 at the time. She told authorities she heard a loud boom before leaving for school with Jordan.
That sound, prosecutors say, was the noise of a 20-gauge youth shotgun that state police believe is the weapon responsible for Houk’s slaying.
But Jordan’s attorneys say the witness, now 8, is unreliable because she didn’t say she heard a “boom” the first two times police interrogated her. It wasn’t until a third round of questioning that she told them about the noise.
The victim’s body was discovered by her youngest daughter, just 4.
Prosecutors allege there was tension between Jordan and Houk, who had moved into the father’s farmhouse. They say Jordan was jealous of Houk and her two daughters. The unborn child would have been a boy.
“There are no signs of forced entry,” Bongivengo added. “No signs of a robber or burglar.”
Jordan’s supporters deny any rivalry or bad feelings between the boy and his would-be stepmother.
Prosecutors also allege that there is strong physical evidence linking Jordan to the crime. Police found gunshot residue on Jordan’s shirt. A state trooper testified that the gun smelled like it had been freshly fired. His defense team argues that many of Jordan’s shirts and guns had residue because he frequently hunted with his father.
Also, police said they discovered a blanket covering the gun with a quarter-sized hole burned into it.
With outcome of the decertification hearing still months away, there is little consolation for the victim’s family.
The victim’s family wants Jordan to be charged as an adult for taking two lives, they say.
They remember Kenzie Houk as beautiful, friendly and popular. Family members say they miss attending weekly bingo nights, cooking dinner and watching Steelers games with her.
“She’d give her last penny to everyone,” said her mother, Debbie Houk. “She loved everyone and didn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
Debbie Houk said she never expected to be a mother again. But after her daughter was slain, she now cares for her grandchildren.
“The day Kenzie was murdered, the whole family was served with a life sentence,” she said. “There are a 4-year-old and 7-year-old who are serving life right now. They are never going to see their mom.”
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Jason,
There is no such thing is a “Golden Age” or “Age of Innocence”. Let’s go back to the 1950s after World War II.
1950s-Korean War, Cold War
1960s-Vietnam War, Counterculture Movement
1970s-Vietnam War, Energy Crisis, Pol Pot, Idi Amin
1980s-Cold War, Famine in Ethiopia
1990s-First Persian Gulf War, Rwanda Genocide, and Kosovo
2000s-9/11, Hurricane Katrina, War on Terrorism
Now, there is a “Golden Age” for somethings like aviation, but that’s another different topic.
Jordan Brown is sick. I don’t care what how bad his life was. This kid is evil.
There have been young killers in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. They are just largely forgotten today. George Junius Stinney Jr., a child killer, was executed at the age of 14 in 1944. Hannah Ocuish, another child killer, was executed in 1786 for murder. This is an era before TV, video games, and comics were popular.
George Junius Stinney Jr.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/child/5.html
Hannah Ocuish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Ocuish
What I want to know is WHEN did he make the comments about killing his step mom to be? Before or after the gun was given to him? And maybe no one told his parents he said those things. He said them to kids… maybe the kids told no one until after the killing. And sometimes parents don’t believe the things their kids say. Even then, if they had known, would you believe your 11 year old child was capable of murder?
I’m holding off on my opinion of hell … until he’s like… 16. I just can’t… send.. .a kid to hell. No matter how adult his act was.. and it WAS. Shooting someone, covering it up, then going to school like… nothing happened. Gah. I could NOT do that. I couldn’t shoot someone in the first place!
What??? You are trying to lay the fault of this kids murder at his father’s feet?
You are sick and need to walk away. Walk fast and walk far but please get the hell out of here.
I might have missed it, but what’s the father’s comment on this?
Look at this kids eyes.
They are flat. They have no life, like he doesn’t have a soul.
I have seen that before…
If you watch the interview of the “Cross Country Killer” Tommy Lynn Sells on Investigation Discovery with Dr. Stone you’ll see it too.
the only time that this mans eyes became ‘alive’ is when he talked about killing people. his eyes literally glittered.
This kid…he isn’t human. he isn’t even a animal. he’s something else entirely.
The psychiatrist for the prosecution gave his report on Jordan today & said he has “significant” mental, social & reality issues concerning what he had done. I dont believe he should be tried as an adult, (because he’s not one), but I DO believe he should be locked away in a mental facility perhaps for life. I believe the word “SOCIOPATH” would apply for who & what Jordan is & what he has done. This kid is a danger to others. Sad, sad story for all involved.
Tommy Lynn Sells is hopefully a one of a kind freak/monstrosity of nature. I wouldnt insult a rattlesnake by comparing him to Sells.
This is a CHILD!!! I’m not condoning what he did in any way shape or form but think people! Do some research on the brain development of an 11 yr old. Yes, he may have planned it and then hid the gun but how can anyone with think that he knew what he was doing? The human brain doesn’t fully mature until around the age of 21. (particularly the part of the brain that controlls instinct) I do feel Jordan needs to pay for his actions but NOT in the adult system. I havn’t been able to find much about the family history but what has been made public leads me to believe that this little boy was in need of some psychiatric help long before this tradgidy occured. My heart goes out to the family Kenzie and her unborn child. I understand they are grieving but again this is a child that they are condemming to hell.
First of all, any responsible parent does not give an 11 yr old free rein of a gun of any kind. Secondly, I would bet anything that signs were present but ignored that he was in need of some help. And not unlike many crimes committed by young offenders, now the adults that chose to deny the problems are thinking “how could this happen”. uhg….Hello?????
No child should be placed in an adult corrections facility. There are truely horrendous consequences that not only effect the offender but also society. I have been working on a research paper about this for a few months now and there has not been one positive thing that I have found as a result of placing them there. I could go into detail but those of you that are placing judgement and agreeing that Jordin should spend the rest of his life with hardend adult criminals……go do a little research yourself.
Most likely he will be released at some point. What will be released into society will be so much more than an 11yr old who made a very very big mistake.
Adult prison??? Jordan wouldn’t last two seconds! No way should he be in an adult prison at 11 years of age! GAH!
He should be in a psychiatric facility. One that studies this kind of mentality, so we can possibly figure out how to treat or prevent it. If he’s guilty, he should repay his debt to society by being a lifelong case study.
Really, who said anything about sticking him in an adult prison at 12 or 13 years old. I wish folks would stop doing my thinking for me. The standard in most states is to keep them in a juvenile facility until they are 21, and then transfer them to an adult prison. And not every prison is Marion, or San Quentin – there are medium and low security prisons that aren’t nearly the horror stories we’ve heard about. I just want this kid locked up where he can’t hurt anyone ever again.
@Wnedy how many excuses do you want to give this shit?
OH and I gave my daughter a .22 Mag revolver when she was 8. I got that same revolver when I was 5 my father also when he was 5. Don’t you dare tell me I am wrong. You have no idea how insulting and offensive that is. If we were face to face I would open handed slap you. You have no right to tell me how to raise my daughter. I did right by giving her the revolver. If you fail to see that then you need to find a very high building and jump off because you will never understand life.
When I was 10, my father gave me the trench knife his grandfather used in WWI. It’s currently on the way to my niece out of state, inside the heirloom hope chest my grandfather gave to me.
A family heirloom is an heirloom, no matter what it is. My best friend has an SS dagger her grandfather took off a Nazi in WWII. It’s on display in a prominent place in her bedroom. Sometimes people misunderstand the meaning of it, since it does have a Nazi Swastika embellished on the hilt. She explains it, and then they’re in awe of it.
“A mature 11-year-old is old enough to go with an adult and, under supervision, shoot something that’s supposed to be shot at.” Yes. I assume if you had a son who was a bully, you wouldn’t give him his own gun to keep in his room because that’s just asking for trouble. You are not stupid. Holding a gun is a powerful feeling. Owning one even more so. It’s not for people who will let that feeling of power take over their reason. It’s not for a child who has no sense of right and wrong. I don’t like the idea of giving children weapons as gifts to keep in their rooms, but that’s just my own upbringing. It’s not how I was raised. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done responsibly, or that it’s wrong.
If Jordan didn’t have a gun, it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to kill. He still would have killed, of course. He might have taken a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the back of the neck instead. The method isn’t at issue here, only the madness behind it.
Every time I read the word “mistake,” I think about what that word really means.
Break the word up, it means to steal by accident or misjudgment. If you accidentally shoplift, you’ve made a mistake, something that can readily be forgiven over a soft chuckle and a swipe of the debit card. Can you honestly call putting a shotgun to the back of a sleeping, pregnant woman’s head a mistake? Was he confused about the outcome? He’d seen what that thing could do to a squirrel, and it was not pretty. I imagine there were bottles and cans that had suffered some abuse from the gun and the boy holding it. Was it a mistake for the father to give the boy the gun? I think it was a mistake for the gun not to be locked up. I had to earn tenderfoot to carry a pocket knife in our scout troop, first class to carry a belt knife or hatchet, and had to be 10 before I could shoot the rifles on the range at the camp, despite my proficiency elsewhere. There are 11 year-old eagle scouts, so I’d trust an 11 year-old with a rifle or shotgun under certain circumstances. These would be monitored circumstances, and I’d never trust them with ammunition without supervision. In fact, as I remember, that was the real solution to the gun deal. I knew where the pistols were, but the ammo was out of reach.
Gun safety was a progression of tool safety. If I left the mower or the shovel outside and not put away, I was punished. Improper gun handling resulted in a reduction of privileges up to and including full suspension of all privileges (including fishing). These are an exercise in mistake punishment. I mistakenly overstepped the boundaries of my privileges.
Taking a life, bragging about it and also attempting to hide the deed are different things. They’re a progression of concepts that disregard mere tools and turn people into things. These aren’t mistakes, they’re serious failures. Failure refers to a lack of something. An absence. The word defect is often thrown around, but it really means a dent or divot caused during casting or manufacture that was compared to the betrayal of a soldier as he defected to the other side and took up arms against his neighbor and comrades. Jordan defected from the human race when he planned and executed a murder.
Not a mistake, a base treason and failure on Jordan’s part to responsibly use a tool trusted to him. This isn’t a slap on the wrist or a scolding, this is a “we kick you out of the human club until we can figure out what to do with you” moment. This is an emotional throw back. An unacceptable moment we have to reject and set as an example.
Jordan has to be tried as an adult in PA, don’t let that bother you, it’s the only way he can get his constitutional right to a fair trial. Jordan would spend his first few years in a Juvenile detention facility and if his attorney isn’t at least planning on pleading insanity, I don’t understand a bit about the law or what he’s chosen to spend his time smoking. Jordan should not at this time be treated as a child by the public who don’t know what’s going on. As it stands, for all of the other children who may not know which way you never point a shotgun, and may consider the back of someone else’s head, we should be providing Jordan as a clear and concise example of what to do and what not to do.
i think the houk family is using the death of their daughter and grand sone to make a living!!! how dare they if i was the brown family i would be checking in on a lot of rights they have and have that baby mooved so they can go moarn the loss they have had also the houk family isnt the only ones that moarn over the tradgety that happened
Wow I’m just impressed that you spelled daughter correctly since you butchered son, moved, mourn, and tragedy.
Unless you’re talking about MOOving a cow. Then that’s fitting.
Jesus Christ, where do these idiots come from?
Can someone else handle this dumbass? I’ve got a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Plus I just don’t care to answer someone this fucking stupid.
My god do you not have spell check? If not can you at least google a word if you’re unsure of the spelling. I admit I’m not the best speller or grammatically correct person but damn. Maybe I missed something but just how do you get the Houk family is making a living off their daughters death. Never mind I don’t even want to try to cipher the spelling out of your post. You probably think the earth is still flat and man never walked on the moon. Hav a guud day. Fart knocker;)
All I got out of that post was “I think…” There’s your first mistake right there, ashley. Stop doing that. Please.
Where is this kids real mother? I have yet to hear anything about her. Does he deserve hell ???? I would say that I am not his judge. I think people are quick to send others to helll…be careful you might end up there yourself. I think there should be some blame put on the adults that allowed this 11 year old child to keep a gun in his room. I also wonder what kind of a person Kenzie was. I mean did she make this child feel like part of the family or like he was in the way. Maybe instead of jumping so quickly into this relationship she should have spent sometime getting to know this man and his son. Also allowing time for letting everyone adjust. I mean she had 2 daughters of her own and she seemed pretty quick to get together with this man. Was she looking for someone to take care of her and her daughters.
Oh, c’mon Marilyn. Countless couples get together like this, on the spur of the moment, and cram their families together all the time. It’s been happening like this for a very long time, all over the world. I’m not saying it’s smart or healthy for anyone, but it happens all the time. How many kids in Jordan’s same circumstance killed their step-parent or the girlfriend of their father? We’re quite lucky there have not been more.
Are we all so naive that we just can’t believe in the idea of a Bad Seed? This is a child, yes. Have we insulated ourselves from reality to such an extent that we forget all through history, children this age and younger have killed others for various reasons? Their minds are much more resilient and creative than most adults – they can justify the most ridiculous actions to themselves even if they can’t justify those actions to the adults around them. They can survive extreme mental trauma and bounce back the way a teen or adult cannot. Children are NOT innocent of the ability to commit atrocities. You give them too little credit.
I don’t believe any 11 year old should have access to a gun. I understand the hunting aspect and think it’s fine. But with adult supervision. I know the Houk family personally and knew Kenzie all her life. I also work with juvenile offenders. So I was very torn on the issue of Jordan being tried as an adult. Studies prove that a childs brain is not fully developed into your early 20’s. However, I do feel that Jordan knew what he was doing. At 11 I knew the difference between right and wrong. He took not just 1 life, but 2. Jealousy can do crazy things to us or cause us to do crazy things. But it’s not an excuse for heinous behaviors. I don’t feel that 7 years is enough for what he’s done. So the only answer is to try him as an adult. And if he was charged as a juvenile, spending 7 years institiutionalized, he will not stand a chance of any normalcy in society anyhow. I watch this family and my heart breaks. The pain so evident. I see Kenzie’s kids and I just want to cry. Debbie and Jack are wonderful people whose kids meant the world to them. Jordan has completely destroyed their lives and has caused them pain beyond repair. He is a cold, calculating little bastard. And I don’t feel Kenzie’s daughters will ever be safe if he is free. And haven’t they suffered more then enough????
DROP DEAD YOU FAT UGLY EVIL CUNT!!
Maaaaax! Can you get this crap offa here!?
Done and done
Thanks, Max. You’re the greatest!
Some kids like to go hunting with their dads. A mature 11-year-old is old enough to go with an adult and, under supervision, shoot something that’s supposed to be shot at. Deer, pheasant, what have you. And guns are not weapons first and foremost. You’re applying your own prejudices to something. Guns are tools, nothing more. Dangerous tools, of course. Simple tools, yes. But tools are what they are. A gun becomes a weapon when someone chooses to use it as a weapon. The human element is all-important.