The family of a
pregnant Pennsylvania woman who was killed along with her unborn son in 2009 is
objecting to the release of the convicted killer, who was 11 at the time of the
slaying.
The parents of the victim, Kenzie Houk, 26, and other relatives confirmed
Jordan Brown was released after a Monday juvenile court hearing closed to the
public.
Lawrence County judge John Hodge has jurisdiction over Brown until he's
21 and put the 18-year-old on probation in the custody of an uncle, who lives
in Ohio, just across the border from the western Pennsylvania county where Houk
was slain. Houk was the fiancée of Brown's father.
Prosecutors say
Brown kept his 20-gauge shotgun hidden under a blanket when he shot Houk in the
back of the head as she lay in bed that morning while she was more than
8-months pregnant with a son, who also died.
Houk's relatives
contend Brown was jealous of her unborn son, while Brown's attorneys contend
investigators rushed to judgment due to related claims by Houk's family.
The shooting
occurred after Brown's father, Christopher Brown, had left for work.
Authorities say the boy then walked to a
school bus with Houk's 7-year-old daughter, dropping an empty shotgun shell on
the way and leaving Houk's 4-year-old daughter behind with her dead mother.
However, Brown who
was 11 when the killing happened has always maintained his innocence, though
police contend they found no evidence pointing to anyone else, his attorneys
said.
Brown claimed he saw
a truck resembling one owned by Houk's ex-boyfriend near their home that day.
But Proscutors debunked that claim saying the only muddy male footprints
leading to or from the house that morning were Brown's.
The judge will
review Brown's probation every six months, defense attorney Steve Colafella
told The Associated Press on Tuesday. That means Brown's probation can be
extended or even ended if the judge sees fit,
but it could also be revoked, meaning Brown could again be incarcerated
if he misbehaves.
But, no matter what
happens, the oversight will end when he's 21 because Brown was prosecuted as a
juvenile, Colafella said.
Jack Houk, the dead
woman's father, said .
"It's a
double-murder. He killed my daughter and a baby". "Every six months
they have a thing to see how he's doing. It's always about how he's
doing."
State prosecutors
initially charged Brown as an adult — meaning he faced the potential of life in
prison if convicted — but the case was returned to juvenile court after
successful defense appeals.
Brown was ruled
"delinquent," the juvenile court equivalent of guilty, after an April
2012 trial and remained incarcerated, subject to periodic reviews.
Colafella said Brown
was released Monday because "he's just sort of run the course of all the
placement and programming they can offer."
Jack Houk said that
before Brown's release the juvenile had already been granted weekend passes,
then attended a public school under an assumed name while living in a halfway
house. Houk and the boy's attorneys confirmed he has since graduated and plans
to attend college.
The defense contends
that police didn't rule out whether anybody else entered the house the morning
Houk was shot and that Houk's older daughter gave varying accounts to police
about whether she heard a gunshot.
Source: AP
