And I don't know if that happened in this case,” Martin said. Inside the family's farmhouse, police had found handguns, rifles, several rounds of ammunition and a child-sized shotgun that belonged to Jordan. In an exclusive interview with “20/20,” she told her own account of what happened that morning of Feb. 20, 2009, and some of it conflicts with the police timeline. In 2016, Brown was released from juvenile detention, but he and his defense team continued to argue his innocence. PITTSBURGH (AP) -- An 11-year-old boy accused of killing his father's pregnant fiance had been threatening the woman for at least two months, the woman's mother … Another issue Jordan’s attorneys raised was that there was no blood or tissue found on the gun or Jordan Brown’s clothing that day. Jordan's mother, Mildred Krause, was just four months pregnant with him when she first entered a courtroom to battle his father, Christopher Brown. Houk, a hairstylist and a stay-at-home mom, was sleeping in a bedroom downstairs at the time, which was to become Jordan’s room after the baby was born. “I gave him every opportunity. “He has someone that says that he's at home and from the trooper that interviewed him, who said the truck didn't look like it had been driven and we took photos of the truck,” Martin said. All rights reserved. It's saying that I have a charge in front of me in juvenile court, and I am finding that you are responsible for that crime,” ABC News’ Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams said. Through Elisco, Brown said Jordan was a good student, pulling mostly As and Bs, his favorite subjects being math and science. The 26-year-old Houk and her unborn baby died Feb. 20, 2009, when she was shot in the New Beaver Borough farmhouse she shared with her daughters, her fiancé, Chris Brown, and his son Jordan… “[I] haven’t had a chance to grieve properly,” Chris Brown said. Kenzie Houk, seen here in this undated family photo, and Chris Brown were engaged when she was killed. “I was happy. “I can remember just looking at Jordan and feeling like we had failed him. When his mug shot was taken, Jordan Brown said he had been crying the whole night. Apparently unaware Krause was pregnant with his son, Brown was ordered to stay away from her, an order later expunged, according to court records and Brown's attorney, Dennis Elisco. NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Good student. “Those law enforcement officers who said that they smelled [that the gun] was recently fired, they conceded that they had no expertise or training,” said Jordan’s attorney Dennis Elisco. (c), for her murder. (MORE: What life is like today for man arrested at age 11, convicted at 14, for pregnant future stepmom's slaying), (MORE: How life changes when you're 11 years old and arrested for murder). Police also said they found a 20-gauge shotgun shell casing in pristine condition next to the family’s driveway the next day. Just 11 years old when he was charged with fatally shooting his pregnant, would-be stepmother, Jordan Brown is finally a free man — more than nine years later. They also found a 20-gauge shotgun that belonged to Jordan Brown. At that point, we're trying to maintain the integrity of the scene.”. “This is precisely what would have had to have happened,” Colafella added. Everything is gone. Now, he was losing his son. I miss her every day,” he said. But in September 1997, shortly after Jordan's birth, the judge granted Mr. Brown "temporary full physical and legal custody" of the boy, after he petitioned the court, saying Jordan's … ©2021 FOX News Network, LLC. You know, [he] maintained his innocence throughout from day one,” he added. Just a fifth grader at the time, he said he didn’t understand of what he was being accused. He needed to drive four hours every day, he said, to visit Jordan because “he’s my son.”, Jordan Brown said those visits were a lifeline: “I don’t know what I would’ve done without them.". But then I got to the point where it didn’t bother me at all. “Read that Supreme Court order and realize that this kid was done wrong.”, 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Jordan Brown (AP) Deborah Houk, Kenzie Houk's mother, said she remains convinced Brown did it. And I would assume every trooper who investigated that case feels the same way. If his case gets moved to a juvenile court, he would probably spend the next 10 years in a secure juvenile facility. I didn’t care. Brown and Houk had known each other since they were teenagers and were planning to be married soon. Aspiring hunter. Retired Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Bobby McGraw said he is still confident that Jordan Brown committed the murders. Her family says Adalynn shared bits of her story over the years, but it’s something neither police nor Jordan’s defense team have ever heard. The mother of Kenzie Houk, who was 26 when she was murdered in 2009, and other relatives confirmed Monday's decision by a Lawrence County judge to release Jordan Brown … “I was standing right at the edge of the doorway, and I remember the coroner saying, as he started to touch the body, ‘We have a problem,’” Martin said. 11-year-old arrested for his pregnant soon-to-be stepmother's murder: Part 1. And we just sat … on the couch in the living room waiting and then Kenzie told us to go because the bus is coming and we're going to be late. And I had no idea where we were going. While awaiting trial, Jordan Brown was housed for three years at the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center, a juvenile detention facility in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Debbie Houk said Jordan Brown often gave 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk a hard time, especially when his father wasn't around. But Kenzie's family said that despite their efforts — and those made by Kenzie — Jordan had difficulty adjusting to his new life. “I went in to wake her up. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. In 2012, Brown was adjudicated delinquent – meaning guilty in juvenile court – of first-degree murder and criminal homicide of an unborn child. His Conviction Was Recently Overturned By … Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? “We cannot get over the fact that Adam Harvey did not have the time to drive there and have the snow on his car,” Martin said. We did not get this wrong,” McGraw told “20/20.” “There is not a trooper on scene that day that has lost one second of sleep over this case.”. “In my 25 years, I believe it was the only one in that area that I can remember.”. "As far as I was concerned, he was a typical 11-year-old boy who wanted to have fun," Willard Houk said. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. That morning of Feb. 20, 2009, Jordan Brown said, was “just a normal morning” as he was getting ready for school. His father backed up his alibi, confirming Harvey’s story that he was home with them. Finally, it felt like a big weight had been lifted off of me. “It's such a small window and such an unlikely set of circumstances that one, he found out where she lived. ... Time flew when you were reading.”. Jordan Brown’s lawyers announced they would appeal two months after his conviction. Kenzie Houk is seen here with one of her daughters in this undated family photo. But Jordan's attorney, Elisco, denied there were tensions between Jordan and his new family. But the prosecution’s expert witness said that the angle in which the gun was shot could have minimized what’s referred to as blowback. Market data provided by Factset. "The accusations of him having rage or warning signs of violence are unfounded.". “I’m 100 percent, you know, a whole, clean slate. In a 5-0 ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Jordan Brown, who was 11-years-old when he was arrested, booked into an adult jail and initially charged as an adult for the 2009 murder of his father’s pregnant fiancée. But on Feb. 5, 1999, with the consent of both parents, Christopher Brown was awarded full custody of his 18-month-old son. And none of us wanted to put handcuffs on an 11-year-old. Early in the investigation, a number of people including Chris Brown told police they should look into another person -- Houk’s ex-boyfriend of six years, Adam Harvey. It's three feet long.”, Inside the Browns' farmhouse, police found a collection of handguns, rifles and several rounds of ammunition. Jordan’s motive, McGraw believed, was that he was jealous of the new baby. I didn't know where I was at, what was going on or anything,” he said. Legal Statement. Still, a juvenile court judge found Jordan Brown, then 14, delinquent in the case. So that's what I was going to get.”. And I was in there. But when police pulled him over in that truck the day of the murders, they determined that he could not have made the almost 24-mile drive over to Houk’s house and back to his neighborhood because snow left on the hood was still intact. “[I] went downstairs, got my clothes, went in the bathroom, got dressed. “All I remember was they came and got me at 3:00 in the morning,” Jordan Brown said. They argue that the particle of gunpowder residue on his shirt and pants could have come from the jacket he had worn to a recent turkey shoot. “I saw a gentleman in front of me that was crying,” said Martin. I liked her a lot,” Jordan Brown told “20/20.” “I was happy [about the baby]… I always wanted a little brother. As for Chris, he still mourns the loss of Houk and their unborn son. As the years passed, Jordan Brown said he spent much of his time absorbed in the books his father brought him, reading with a dictionary next to him. Around 8:15 a.m., Jordan said he and Jenessa left the house to catch the school bus. Jordan Brown’s father, who believes in his son’s innocence, did not offer a theory on who killed Kenzie Houk. Both children were interviewed and, according to police, neither said anything out of the ordinary had happened that morning. “He kept talking about… a piece of fuzz, and ‘I got it out of my pocket and I threw it.’ In my opinion, he was focused on the shotgun shell casing that he threw after he left the residence,” McGraw said. “I was just like, ‘Hey mom, wake up.’ and when I turned her own, I realized—I’d come to the conclusion of what had happened. Kate Burdick, Staff Attorney at Juvenile Law Center, is pictured above center with co-counsel Dennis Elisco and Stephen Colafella and worked on Jordan Brown’s case. The farmhouse in Wampum where Chris Brown lived with his fiance Kenzie Houk, his son Jordan Brown and her two daughters, Janessa and Adalynn. or redistributed. I did not know what the sound was,” said Adalynn, who was 4 years old at the time and is now 13. A phone call to a phone number for the boy's mother's family rang unanswered. Police called Chris Brown at his job in the shipping department at a local tableware company and asked him to come home immediately. They had a warrant for Jordan's arrest. Now, he was losing his son. Father and son would shoot targets in the back yard, which police say helped Houk's 7-year-old daughter identify the sound of the gunshot she heard the morning her mother was killed. [I'd say,] ‘Jordan, listen, if something happens. “You took an 11-year-old’s childhood away from him. If he is convicted as an adult, he faces life in prison. The instability that characterized Jordan's formative years, including the fact he might have felt rejected by his biological mother, could have influenced his later behavior, said Daniel Shaw, chairman of the psychology department at the University of Pittsburgh. He took Kenzie's girls for spins on his motorcycle. After spending time with his son Jason, Karamo moved to Texas to become a full-time dad. So we hurry up and went out the backdoor and ran down the driveway. Legal Statement. In May 2008, Jordan's father began dating Houk. I'm never not going to be here every day,’” Chris Brown said. There were about 20 students in his class, and he probably knew many of the other 125 fifth-graders through baseball and football, said McNamee, the superintendent. Jordan Brown, a Pennsylvania boy who insists he is innocent despite being convicted of killing his father's pregnant fiancée when he was just 11, may get a new trial. And then, Jordan’s defense attorneys pointed to the troopers who had said Jordan’s shotgun smelled as if it had just been fired when they arrived at the house that morning. “My sister Jenessa woke me up,” said Jordan Brown. Brown and his dad, … Jordan Brown said he has "mixed feelings" about what happened to him. Jordan’s defense lawyers say her timeline means Jordan wasn’t there when Houk was killed, but Martin, who worked the case, says after so many years he doesn’t find Adalynn’s account credible. This was their first child together – a baby boy they had already named Christopher. That day, she said she remembered being woken up by the sound of a gunshot. Harvey also drove a black truck. In fact, police said, in his second interview, Jordan changed his description of the black truck and added that there was a person inside with a hat on, ducking down. And just feeling so sorry for him at that moment,” Colafella said. Police said what really turned the case for them were additional interviews they conducted with Jenessa and Jordan the night of the murders. “It's kind of a bittersweet feeling, you know. On October 19th, ABC 20/20 aired a special episode exposing how Jordan Brown was wrongly accused of murder at age 11 and outlining the nearly decade-long legal battle to clear his name. I wasn't with anybody. His attorneys say police were never able to prove Jordan Brown’s shotgun was the murder weapon. Immediately after Jordan was born on Aug. 30, 1997, Krause contacted Lawrence County Children and Youth Services requesting that they take custody of the child so her mother could adopt him, according to court documents. “[He] never changed his story. “I just want to be successful. It’s not a weapon that someone's going to carry across the field or carry up a driveway. 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