11 Year Old Shoots Father's Pregnant Girlfriend

[USSEnterprise]

Do we know if it was intentional or not? I really wouldn't put it past an 11 year old to play with guns as an attempt to act "cool" or something.

I doubt he "accidentally" walked into her bedroom and put it to the back of her head. Besides, they already mentioned that he went hunting with his father frequently. He knows how to use firearms, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

EDIT: Sorry, that was in this article -

NEW CASTLE, Pa. - An 11-year-old boy charged with killing his father's pregnant fiancee will be moved from a county jail to a juvenile facility under a court order issued Tuesday.

A judge agreed that it is in Jordan Brown's best interest to be housed in the Allencrest Juvenile Detention Center northwest of Pittsburgh. Brown remains charged as an adult in the shooting death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, though his attorney said he will ask to have the case moved to a juvenile court.

"What we have learned is ... that under Pennsylvania law he can continue to be ... prosecuted as an adult and be housed in a secure juvenile detention center," defense attorney Dennis Elisco said.

Brown is accused of shooting Houk in the head Friday, killing her and her unborn baby boy.

He's in a cell isolated from the adult inmates in Lawrence County Jail. Elisco said his client will be moved to the juvenile center Wednesday morning.

A viewing and funeral for Houk and her baby boy, who was named Christopher after his father, was held Tuesday evening.

Hundreds of friends and family stood for hours in freezing temperatures to pay their respects to Houk at the viewing. They walked quietly past her body, which was dressed in a red sweater. Near her feet were two blue baby booties for the baby she was to deliver in just a few weeks and beside her was a red pillow with the words "Special Mom" embroidered in white.

Houk's immediate family was allowed to see the baby's body. Her uncle Willard Houk called it "a hard thing" knowing Houk was so close to giving birth.

At the funeral service, friends and family remembered Houk as a loving, joyful, stubborn woman who could never be persuaded to do something she was opposed to. One of her best friends, the Rev. Jamie Holmes, recalled a time when he and Houk went to a Pittsburgh Steelers game together and Hines Ward wanted to talk to her - and she refused.

"I was so angry," he said laughing at the memory.

Jordan Brown and his father lived with Houk and her two small daughters in a farmhouse in the rural western Pennsylvania town of Wampum.

Authorities believe Friday's killing was premeditated. They say Brown went downstairs with two guns but returned upstairs after Houk's 7-year-old daughter saw him; they believe he then hid a gun in a blanket and went back downstairs to Houk's bedroom and shot her in the back of the head.

Later, the 7-year-old girl told police she saw the boy drop something on the ground from his pocket before they got on the school bus. Police said they found a spent shotgun shell in the same spot.

Earlier Tuesday, Houk's mother said the boy had been threatening her daughter for at least two months and often gave her a hard time, especially when his father wasn't around.

"It's been at least two months that he's made the threats," Debbie Houk said, adding that Jordan "just bucked her (Kenzie) a lot when his dad wasn't around."

"Chris was good about it. He tried. He told him, 'Don't you ever disrespect her,'" Debbie Houk added.

Debbie Houk said Jordan, a hunter, knew a lot about guns and was a good shot. On Valentine's Day, he beat out many older and more experienced hunters at a turkey shoot.

"I'll never cook that turkey. It's the same gun that killed my daughter," she said. "So he knew what a gun did. He knew the dangers of a gun."

Source.

Ohhh, Okay then, never mind then. Its always sad to see people so young doing things like that and I guess you always try to find a reason. I guess its just a good thing to get him out of the world before he becomes some sort of serial killer.

[SteveK]

I got a .410 single shot shotgun for my . . . 9th or 10th birthday. Its pretty common in the U.S for kids to start shooting early.

[Mikey]

True. If you are in an area or family which hunts, shoots at a range, or whatever, then it only makes sense to educate the children about the proper use of a firearm. However, as Tsu referenced, a gun safe is far less expensive than a gun. If there is a child of 11 - who is old enough to discern - who intentionally murders someone, then the parent(s) are at fault for far more than just leaving the gun around, however.

[Aaron]

True. If you are in an area or family which hunts, shoots at a range, or whatever, then it only makes sense to educate the children about the proper use of a firearm. However, as Tsu referenced, a gun safe is far less expensive than a gun. If there is a child of 11 - who is old enough to discern - who intentionally murders someone, then the parent(s) are at fault for far more than just leaving the gun around, however.

Really? Here a good quality on is a thousand to two thousand dollars, thats over twice what the flintlock is worth!

[Tsukiyumi]

...a good quality on is a thousand to two thousand dollars...

There's the clincher; how good does it need to be to keep an 11 year old out of it?

[Aaron]

There's the clincher; how good does it need to be to keep an 11 year old out of it?

Well, if your buying a safe then you may as well buy one that is good enough to keep an adult out or better yet; save your firearms in case of a fire.

[Tsukiyumi]

Point still remains; the primary responsibility is to keep unsupervised kids away from the guns.

[Aaron]

Point still remains; the primary responsibility is to keep unsupervised kids away from the guns.

Well if that's all you want then a trigger lock and a locked case is all you need. We're required by law to have them locked up actually, not sure what it's like down south...

[Tsukiyumi]

If you have children, I agree a trigger lock should be mandatory. In this case the (loaded) shotgun was stored in the obviously secure location of "behind the kid's bed."

[Aaron]

If you have children, I agree a trigger lock should be mandatory. In this case the (loaded) shotgun was stored in the obviously secure location of "behind the kid's bed."

Well you never know when a little girl might try to gain entrance and infect you with cooties...

[Tsukiyumi]

If you have children, I agree a trigger lock should be mandatory. In this case the (loaded) shotgun was stored in the obviously secure location of "behind the kid's bed."

Well you never know when a little girl might try to gain entrance and infect you with cooties...

Yeah, there's that.

[Mikey]

My old boss was a pistol shooter and hunter, and I think he paid about $500 for a gun safe. I assume it was a very high-quality one, because among other guns he kept in it a VERY antique Beretta shotgun which I'm sure was worth many thousands of dollars.

[Sionnach Glic]

Bit of an update:

Pregnant Shooting Victim Laid To Rest
NEW CASTLE (KDKA) ―

[Click to zoom.] Click to enlarge
Family, friends and community members lined up outside of a Lawrence County funeral home to say goodbye to Kenzie Houk and her unborn son.

The pregnant woman, who was shot and killed last week in her Lawrence County farm house, will be buried this morning with her unborn son.

Hundreds of mourners gathered to say a final goodbye Tuesday to 26-year-old Kenzie Houk. Funeral services were held after a wake for Houk and her son, Christopher.

Today, the two will be buried in one grave in the Parkside Cemetery in Shenango Township.

A family spokesman said the Houks were touched by the outpouring of support and sympathy.

"The hardest part was, we got to view the baby and Kenzie," said Williard Houk. "It was really hard on my brother, his daughter and my sister-in-law, but that once we got over that with all these people, it's just wonderful to see the people support, to come out friends, neighbors, it's just overwhelming."

Houk leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old daughter.

Meanwhile, the boy accused in the shooting, 11-year-old Jordan Brown, has been moved to a juvenile facility in Beaver County.

Brown, the son of Houk's fiancé, was being held in the Lawrence County Jail.

Officials were concerned about him being in an adult facility. Brown is facing charges of criminal homicide and homicide of an unborn child.