NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A psychologist who interviewed a 12-year-old Lawrence County boy accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancee said this morning that the boy is a "strikingly average" pre-teen who would be at "low risk for future violent crimes" if he were tried and found delinquent in juvenile court.

Jordan Brown

Jordan Brown was 11 when he was charged as an adult with two counts of homicide for the shotgun shooting of Kenzie Houk, 26, and her unborn child in February. A judge today is hearing arguments about whether the boy's case should be decertified to juvenile court. Defense witnesses, including the psychologist, Kirk Heilbrun, have said the boy is adjusting and behaving well in the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Detention Center in Erie, where he has been since early March.

If he is tried and convicted as an adult, experts say he would become the youngest person in the country to serve a mandatory life sentence without parole.

If he is sentenced in juvenile court, the state could not hold him past his 21st birthday.

The case has polarized two families, who sat on opposite sides of the courtroom today as defense attorneys David Acker and Dennis A. Elisco questioned Dr. Heilbrun and one of Jordan's counselors in the detention center. Jordan's attorneys must prove that he would be "amenable to juvenile treatment," and today's testimony has focused on his mental health history, his school record and social interactions.

Dr. Heilbrun, who heads the psychology department at Drexel University and said he talked with Jordan for more than three hours this summer, described his maturity level as "early adolescence."

"He is 10 years, at least, from adulthood," he said.

Jordan, who has sat quietly shackled, has had a growth spurt since his first court appearance last spring. When he was first booked into the detention center, he weighed 118 pounds; now he is 149 pounds and nearly 4 inches taller, the counselor, Christine McCullum said.

She said his behavior in detention has been "extraordinary" given that he is young and unknown in Erie County.

She said his age and small stature made him the target of bullying on occasion in the detention center. Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony J. Krastek, who has taken over the case from the district attorney's office, asked whether he is always the victim, or whether he sometimes becomes a bully himself.

He read from a report written by one of Jordan's teachers in detention that said "it appears that Jordan does get angry quickly," "he seldom shows remorse" and "when caught doing something wrong, he tries desperately to get out of it" and pins the blame on others.

Prosecutors have described the crime as cold-blooded and premeditated. They say Jordan shot his future stepmother as she slept, put the shotgun back in his bedroom, got rid of the spent shell casing and rode the bus to Mohawk Elementary School with Ms. Houk's older daughter.

"She could not possibly have been more innocent and defenseless at the time of her death," Mr. Krastek said. "She was executed."

Arguments were to resume this afternoon. It is not known whether Judge Dominick Motto will make a decision today.

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