Hour Documents Jordan’s More-Than-Seven Years in Juvenile Detention and How His Conviction Was Recently Overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
‘20/20’ Airs Saturday, April 6 (10:00 – 11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC
“20/20” features an interview with 21-year-old Jordan Brown, who was recently cleared by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court of a murder conviction he was charged with at age 11. In the interview, Jordan opens up to ABC News correspondent Juju Chang about the confusion he felt when he was first arrested for the murder of his father’s pregnant fiancée, his almost decade-long fight to clear his name, his time in juvenile detention and life now that he’s free. “20/20” airs Saturday, April 6 (10:00 – 11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (Rebroadcast. ABC OAD: 10/19/18)
“20/20” reports on the details of the case throughout the years and features interviews with Christopher Brown, Jordan’s father, who stood by his son and fought for his innocence; Jeffrey Martin, Troy Steinheiser and Robert McGraw, former Pennsylvania State Police officers who worked on the case; Dennis Elisco and Stephen Colafella, Jordan’s attorneys; John Bongivengo, the initial district attorney on the case; Marsha Levick, deputy director and chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center that worked with Jordan’s lawyers on the case; and Bob Mayo, a local reporter who closely followed the story.
In 2009, Jordan was a typical fifth grader living in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, with his dad, Kenzie Houk (his soon-to-be stepmother) and Kenzie’s daughters, 7-year-old Jenessa and 4-year-old Adalynn. But on Feb. 20, 2009, everything changed when Kenzie was discovered dead inside their home after Jordan and Jenessa left for school. Police found a youth-sized shotgun in the home that they claimed smelled like it had been recently fired and discovered gunshot residue on Jordan’s shirt and pants. Jordan was swiftly arrested for the crime, despite there being no DNA, blood or fingerprints linking him to the crime, and was convicted in 2012 in juvenile court of first-degree murder and first-degree homicide. Last July, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction, citing insufficient evidence for Jordan to have been convicted.
“20/20” is anchored by David Muir and Amy Robach. David Sloan is senior executive producer.