NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has reversed a ruling that overturned a health care executive’s manslaughter conviction for fatally drugging her 8-year-old autistic son.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Manhattan Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave was wrong in 2020 when she ordered a new trial for Gigi Jordan. Jordan was convicted in November 2014 of killing her son, Jude Mirra, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2010.
The 2020 ruling ordering a new trial stemmed from an incident during the trial in which the judge granted a prosecutor’s request to close the courtroom for about 15 minutes.
Jordan admitted to purposefully ending her son’s life, but she portrayed her actions as a mercy killing. She said Mirra had been physically and sexually abused by his biological father and others. Prosecutors said the killing was anything but merciful. Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance called it a “premeditated act of child abuse.”
“He didn’t die fast,” assistant district attorney Matt Bogdanos said during the trial. “One by one, his vital organs shut down. It didn’t take minutes. It took hours to die.”
Jordan testified that she meant to kill herself the same night she killed her son. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
