Post by Melissa on Feb 1, 2011 20:03:32 GMT -5
www.post-gazette.com/pg/09052/950714-100.stm
11-year-old boy charged in killings
Saturday, February 21, 2009
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
State police have arrested an 11-year-old boy in the slayings of a 26-year-old woman and her unborn child.
Troopers identified the suspect as Jordan Anthony Brown. He is the son of the dead woman's boyfriend. He was arrested about 2:50 a.m. today.
The boy is charged with homicide and homicide involving an unborn child in the death of Kenzie Marie Houk, who died of a gunshot wound yesterday morning.
State police said her body was discovered by her 4-year-old daughter in their home on a rural road in Wampum, Lawrence County. Ms. Houk was expected to deliver in early March. Police said her daughter told a tree-trimming crew working in the 1100 block of Wampum-New Galilee Road that her mother was unresponsive. The workers called 911 about 10 a.m.
Ms. Houk lived in the house with her boyfriend, Chris Brown, the boy and her two daughters.
At a press conference this afternoon in New Castle, Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga said Ms. Houk was shot in the back of the head as she lay on her side in bed. Police believe they found the murder weapon -- a 20-gauge "youth model" shotgun -- in the boy's bedroom, said Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo.
"This is something that you wouldn't ever think of in your worst nightmare," Mr. Bongivengo said. "It's heinous, the whole situation."
The district attorney wouldn't talk about a possible motive in the slaying.
Police theorize that the shooting occurred sometime between 7 a.m. yesterday, when Chris Brown left for work, and 9 a.m., when Jordan Brown and Ms. Houk's 7-year-old daughter caught their school bus.
Ms. Houk's landlord, Robert Taylor, said Mr. Brown was a hunter, and that could be why the boy had a shotgun.
Mr. Noga said the fatal shot was fired no more than a foot from the expectant mother's head. He said the unborn child, a full-term boy who weighed about 7 1/2 pounds, died of oxygen deprivation.
Mr. Taylor said the couple had rented the home about four months ago. They had moved from a trailer elsewhere in Lawrence County.
The property contains about 55 acres, and Mr. Taylor said he still keeps cattle in a barn there.
"We don't live in a part of Pennsylvania where things like this happen," said a startled Mr. Taylor.
Troopers said Jordan Brown was arraigned overnight and faces a preliminary hearing Thursday. He was being held in the Lawrence County Jail.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First published on February 21, 2009 at 12:00 am
11-year-old boy charged in killings
Saturday, February 21, 2009
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
State police have arrested an 11-year-old boy in the slayings of a 26-year-old woman and her unborn child.
Troopers identified the suspect as Jordan Anthony Brown. He is the son of the dead woman's boyfriend. He was arrested about 2:50 a.m. today.
The boy is charged with homicide and homicide involving an unborn child in the death of Kenzie Marie Houk, who died of a gunshot wound yesterday morning.
State police said her body was discovered by her 4-year-old daughter in their home on a rural road in Wampum, Lawrence County. Ms. Houk was expected to deliver in early March. Police said her daughter told a tree-trimming crew working in the 1100 block of Wampum-New Galilee Road that her mother was unresponsive. The workers called 911 about 10 a.m.
Ms. Houk lived in the house with her boyfriend, Chris Brown, the boy and her two daughters.
At a press conference this afternoon in New Castle, Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga said Ms. Houk was shot in the back of the head as she lay on her side in bed. Police believe they found the murder weapon -- a 20-gauge "youth model" shotgun -- in the boy's bedroom, said Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo.
"This is something that you wouldn't ever think of in your worst nightmare," Mr. Bongivengo said. "It's heinous, the whole situation."
The district attorney wouldn't talk about a possible motive in the slaying.
Police theorize that the shooting occurred sometime between 7 a.m. yesterday, when Chris Brown left for work, and 9 a.m., when Jordan Brown and Ms. Houk's 7-year-old daughter caught their school bus.
Ms. Houk's landlord, Robert Taylor, said Mr. Brown was a hunter, and that could be why the boy had a shotgun.
Mr. Noga said the fatal shot was fired no more than a foot from the expectant mother's head. He said the unborn child, a full-term boy who weighed about 7 1/2 pounds, died of oxygen deprivation.
Mr. Taylor said the couple had rented the home about four months ago. They had moved from a trailer elsewhere in Lawrence County.
The property contains about 55 acres, and Mr. Taylor said he still keeps cattle in a barn there.
"We don't live in a part of Pennsylvania where things like this happen," said a startled Mr. Taylor.
Troopers said Jordan Brown was arraigned overnight and faces a preliminary hearing Thursday. He was being held in the Lawrence County Jail.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First published on February 21, 2009 at 12:00 am