11-Year-Old Boy Charged In Murder Of Pregnant Woman 2/20/09 WAMPUM, Pa.

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http://www.wpxi.com/news/18760897/detail.html

11-Year-Old Boy Charged In Murder Of Pregnant Woman
Friday, February 20, 2009 – updated: 1:18 pm EST February 21, 2009

WAMPUM, Pa. -- An 11-year-old boy is charged in the shooting death of a Lawrence County woman who was eight months pregnant with her third child.

State police said the boy, identified as a resident of New Galilee, was arrested shortly before 3 a.m. on Saturday.

A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday.

Police have not said what relation, if any, the boy has to the victim.

Kenzie Houk, 26, was found Friday, shot to death in her bed in a home along New Galliee Road in Wampum, Lawrence County.

Police said Houk's 4-year-old daughter left the house to tell a man trimming trees that something was wrong with her mother.

"We come out to load firewood. We had a little girl that come to the door and told us that her mommy had passed away and I called 911... I stayed there until the state police came in and they found her," said Steve Cable.

Jack Houk, the dead woman’s father, said, "The thing that hurts me the worst is that I can't remember the last time I told her I love her. That'll hurt me the rest of my life."

Houk was due to deliver her baby in just two weeks.

Besides her 4-year-old, Houk had an 8-year-old who was at school at the time of the shooting.

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Video on the story
http://www.wpxi.com/video/18762343/index.html

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Saturday, February 21st 2009, 1:56 PM

Boy, 11, charged with killing father's fiancee, who was 8 months pregnant - jealous of dad's love

An 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy consumed with jealousy was charged with killing his father's fiancee - who was 8 months pregnant, police and relatives said.

Relatives said the youngster shot 26-year-old Kenzie Houk in her bed in the family's farmhouse in Wampum, Pa., because he was envious of the couple's unborn son, due in two weeks.

"It's tragic," said a relative who did not want their name used. "They were to be married. He was jealous."

Lawrence County police said the boy was charged with criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child.

Distraught family told the Daily News that cops said the boy shot Houk sometime around 8 a.m. Friday with his own youth-model shotgun.

He then calmly caught the bus to school with Houk's 8-year-old daughter, they said. His father, identified by family members as Chris Brown, was at work at the time.

"Chris was paying more attention to Kenzie and the new boy coming along so he was upset," said another relative.

Houk's body was discovered later that morning by her 4-year-old daughter, who ran out of the house crying, the relatives said.

The girl flagged down tree trimmers working near the house, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, and they called 911.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/02/21/2009-02-21_boy_11_charged_with_killing_fathers_fian.html

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Boy charged with killing dad's pregnant girlfriend
posted – 55 minutes ago

WAMPUM, Pa. (AP) — An 11-year-old boy shot his father's pregnant girlfriend in the back of the head while she was lying in bed in their western Pennsylvania farmhouse, then got on the school bus and went to school, authorities said Saturday.

Jordan Brown was charged Saturday as an adult in the shooting death of Kenzie Marie Houk, who was 8 months pregnant, Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said at a news conference.

Brown, the son of Houk's live-in boyfriend, was charged with criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child, Bongivengo said. He was being held in Lawrence County Jail.

The fifth-grader was picked up from school Friday by Pennsylvania State Police, who found Houk's body after her 4-year-old daughter told tree cutters on the property that she thought her mother was dead, Bongivengo said.

The boy had told police there was a suspicious black truck on the property that morning, causing investigators to look into a false lead for about five hours, he said.

Inconsistencies in Brown's description of the vehicle led police to re-interview the victim's 7-year-old daughter, who implicated the boy in the killing, Bongivengo said.

"She didn't actually eyewitness the shooting. She saw him with what she believed to be a shotgun and heard a loud bang," Bongivengo said, adding that the weapon, a youth model 20-gauge shotgun, was found in what police believed was the boy's bedroom.

The shotgun, which apparently belonged to Brown, is designed for children and such weapons do not have to be registered, Bongivengo said.

Brown's attorney, Dennis Elisco, said he met Saturday with the boy's father, Christopher Brown, and planned to file a motion to have the boy released on bail and move the case to juvenile court.

Elisco and police said they had no motive for the shooting.

The attorney said Christopher Brown was "in a state of actual shock and disbelief." There was no indication the boy had a problem with Houk, he added.

"This is a tragic, extremely tragic situation, and it's way too early to have any substantive comment," Elisco said.

Bongivengo would not say whether the boy confessed to the shooting.

A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.

A neighbor, Cameron Tucker, said Houk was engaged and had been renting the house for no more than a year. Tucker said he had never met Houk's fiance, but that both of them had children.

"She was very protective of her kids," he said, adding that she seemed very excited about her pregnancy.

Tucker's wife sometimes drove Houk's younger daughter to the bus stop because she went to preschool with the Tuckers' 5-year-old.

WPXI-TV identified the dead woman's father as Jack Houk. There was no immediate response Saturday to a call by The Associated Press seeking comment from a Jack Houk of New Castle, a town next to Wampum.

The rural community is about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jfUUCNd8ljeuLU4Qr3BF_5pwHXlwD96G89UO4

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Pennsylvania boy, 11, charged with murder of father's pregnant girlfriend
Jordan Brown accused of killing woman and unborn child

An 11-year-old American boy has been charged with killing his father's pregnant girlfriend with his hunting gun as she lay in bed at the family farmhouse in Pennsylvania.

Jordan Brown is alleged to have shot 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, who was eight months pregnant, before catching the school bus on Friday morning, according to the Lawrence County district attorney, John Bongivengo.

Her family and friends said there had been tensions between her and the boy.

"There was an issue with jealousy," said Kenzie Marie's brother-in-law, Jason Kraner, 34.

Bongivengo said Jason was charged with criminal homicide and the criminal homicide of an unborn child and was being held in Lawrence County jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.

The case has highlighted growing concerns about children's access to firearms.

The fifth-grader was picked up from school on Friday by Pennsylvania state police after they found Kenzie Marie's body. Her four-year-old daughter had told tree cutters on the property that she thought her mother was dead, Bongivengo said.

On Saturday, Jordan told police he had seen a suspicious black truck, causing investigators to look into a false lead for about five hours.

Inconsistencies in Jason's description of the vehicle led police to re-interview the victim's seven-year-old daughter, who implicated the boy in the killing, the attorney said.

"She didn't actually eyewitness the shooting. She saw him with what she believed to be a shotgun and heard a loud bang," Bongivengo said. He said the shotgun was found in what police believed was the boy's bedroom.

The youth model 20-gauge shotgun, which is said to have belonged to Jordan, is designed for children and such weapons do not have to be registered.

Jordan's attorney, Dennis Elisco, said the evidence pointed to the gunshot wound being "consistent" with the boy's hunting gun, but he wanted to see stronger proof.

"I believe Jordan did not do this and I'm looking forward to seeing the physical evidence to see if it matches with what I think happened," he said after talking to the boy in jail.

Police said they had no motive for the shooting, and Bongivengo would not say whether the boy confessed.

"An 11-year-old kid, what would give him the motive to shoot someone?" Kenzie Marie's father, Jack, asked. "Maybe he was just jealous of my daughter and the baby and thought he would be overpowered."

Jack Houk said the boy and his father used to practise shooting behind their farmhouse and the pair enjoyed hunting together.

He said he did not know of any recent problems between the boy and his daughter, but there had been "some tension" in the beginning. Houk said his daughter had been working hard to forge a relationship with the boy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/22/jordan-brown-pennsylvania-murder

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Jordan Brown, 11-year-old charged with killing his father's pregnant girlfriend in Pennsylvania. Photograph: Lawrence County Prison/AP

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Double-Murder Suspect, 11, Moved To 3rd Lockup Facility

Updated: 6:21 pm EST March 2, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- An 11-year-old New Castle boy charged with two counts of criminal homicide has been moved to a third lockup facility.

Jordan Brown is charged with killing Kenzie Marie Houk, 26, and her unborn son with a 20-gauge shotgun at her home in Wampum.

Despite still being charged as an adult, Brown was moved from Lawrence County Jail to Allencrest Juvenile Detention Center last week after a judge ruled the facility could better meet his needs. On Monday he was moved from Allencrest to a juvenile facility in Erie County.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/18833039/detail.html