MALIKA DAVIS - 17 yo and JAMARE ROSS - 7 yo and JOSEPH DAVIS - 4 yo -(2010) New Orleans LA

New Orleans LA ---- Joseph James Ross stood on the sidewalk holding the
leash of his dog and crying Friday morning as police investigated the
quadruple murder at Ross' 9th Ward home.
"I want my family back," Ross said, "They never did nothing to
nobody."
Shortly before midnight Thursday, Ross' 24-year-old wife, Angel
Davis; 17-year-old sister-in-law, Malika Davis; 7-year-old
daughter Jamare Ross; and 4-year-old son Joseph Davis were gunned down in
the neat four-plex where they lived. Ross said he was at work when his
family was slain.
"We don't have a motive or a suspect right now," police spokeswoman
Shereese Harper said.
As Ross was led away by a friend, he said his wife was shot while
hiding in a closet.
"Why, we don't do nothing but go to work and come home again," he
sobbed.
Police received a call just before midnight Thursday about a shooting
and arrived at the house to find the victims lying inside. Emergency
medical technicians pronounced the victims dead.
At dawn, police clustered in the yard while crime scene technicians
finished up inside. Through the open door, a child's bicycle and other
toys could be seen in the foyer.
There was no sign of forced entry to the apartment, and police were
able to lock the door with a key when they left.
"I didn't know them except for their kids playing with mine," said
the next door neighbor, who did not want to give her name. "They were
quiet."
The neighbor said she did not hear shots or any disturbance.
The latest murders pushed the number killed in New Orleans this year
to 45, said police spokesman Bob Young.
"This has got to stop," said Linda Bowie, 56, who has lived in the
area for 19 years. "All this killing, and now it's a couple of babies
that never had a chance. It's got to stop."
The area around the house where the shootings took place is mostly
filled with vacant houses that were wrecked by the flooding after
Hurricane Katrina. The restored houses stand out amid the weeds and
debris.
Bowie said she and her husband were back in their house, but not for
long.
"Not with all the killing going on in New Orleans," she said. "I told
my husband this morning that this time we're evacuating for good."

The three people in the Ford Explorer parked outside of the house at
1940 Clouet St. were agitated. After waiting about 15 minutes for Damian
Jordan, they wanted to know what the hold-up was.

So one of them walked to the door of the 9th Ward home, and heard the voices of two children.

The voices were followed by gunshots.

The
person ran inside and after reaching a rear room of the residence saw
Jordan, 22, holding a handgun to the head of a nude 17-year-old girl,
according to New Orleans Police Department details giving the first
glimpse of what happened during an early morning massacre that took the lives of four family members.

Inside
the house, Jordan cursed, yelled, turned the handgun to the witness and
told the witness to leave, "now,'' according to court filings.

The witness complied and minutes later, Jordan left the house as well, police said.

Roughly an hour later, police officers were left breathless by what they saw.
police said, is that 22-year-old Damian Jordan, a relative of the family, killed them.

Suspect jailed with no bond
Jordan appeared in Orleans Parish magistrate court Thursday, faced
with four counts of first-degree murder. A judge ordered him held
without bond.
cont'd below

cont'd from above
Jordan is the nephew of Joseph Ross, who is Angel Davis' boyfriend
and the father of her two children. Ross arrived home shortly after the
shooting and found his family.


Joseph Davis, 4Police reports filed in court offer some clues as to what happened on Clouet Street the morning of the quadruple killing.

Based on the police account, the murder unfolded like this:

Jordan
and three other people were driving around the city in a green Ford
Explorer. At one point, Jordan directed the driver to his uncle's house
on Clouet. There, Jordan exited the car alone and was allowed inside the
residence.

The three others were left waiting inside the
Explorer for 10 to 15 minutes. They grew agitated. One of the witnesses
went into the house to check on Jordan.

The witness stumbled upon Jordan holding a gun to Malekia Davis' head. Jordan implored the witness to leave.

Minutes later, Jordan walked out of the home and entered the awaiting Explorer. He had a handgun with him, police said.

Suspect identified early in case
Detectives developed Jordan as a lone suspect early in the
investigation. Detectives worked through the night. Armed with
information gleaned from tips, detectives conducted a stakeout Friday in
the 2600 block of St. Ann Street.


Damian Jordan, 22They
arrested Jordan, who had a handgun in his possession, police said. The
gun was a criminal violation because of his felony record, police said.
Detectives booked him on a count of being a felon in possession of a
firearm and continued to look for leads connecting him to the killings.

Police
alleged in court filings that Jordan ditched the murder weapon after
the killing. Investigators later recovered a gun, though police did not
say who or what led them to the weapon. It is unclear if it is the same
gun in Jordan's possession at the time of his arrest.

In a news
conference Wednesday night, Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo said
detectives are awaiting results from forensic testing, though he was
confident that they have the murder weapon.

Defillo credited the
work of three detectives -- Sgt. Daniel McMullen and detectives Ryan
Aucoin and Antonio Sosa ­-- with breaking the case.

On Thursday, prosecutors charged Jordan with the firearms violation.

At the time of last week's arrest, Jordan was on probation for a 2009
attack on his then-girlfriend. He pleaded guilty in July to reduced
charges. Criminal District Court Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson ordered the
first-time convict to serve a suspended four-year sentence, ordered him
stay away from the victim and to pay $600 in court fees. Landrum-Johnson
ruled Wednesday that Jordan violated his probation and will now serve
all four years.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/04/chilling_details_emerge_in_9th.html

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/quadruple_murder_plea_brings_8.html

Quadruple murder plea brings 80-year sentence

Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 6:20 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 11:22 PM
After Damian Jordan fired away and four people lay dead, the circumstances begged for an answer: How could the courts have left him free, with his long-running rap sheet for smacking women?"He could have been locked up. Maybe (stuff) wouldn't have happened to my family," said Joe Ross on Tuesday. "It was like, damn, how could you put him on the street?"


On March 25, 2010, Jordan gunned down Ross's girlfriend, Angel Davis, 25; their children, 7-year-old Jamaria Ross and 4-year-old Joseph Davis; and her sister, Malekia Davis, 17, inside their home on Clouet Street. What emerged soon after was Jordan's history of violence toward women, a slide through the courthouse cracks that left him largely unscathed, and a spotlight on the way Orleans Parish handled domestic abuse cases.

Jordan, 23, left an Orleans Parish courtroom Tuesday in shackles after pleading guilty to four counts of manslaughter that will net him an 80-year prison term. He agreed to the deal rather than face four counts of first-degree murder. The two children he killed were his cousins.

Damian Jordan
The case became an exhibit for backers of a move by District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro in 2009 to charge hundreds of domestic violence cases in state court rather than city court. The idea: Take domestic violence cases more seriously, charging suspects under a state domestic violence statute that could mean more jail time.

Jordan received 21 days in jail for simple battery in a 2008 attack on his 19-year-old sister, in which he punched her several times in the body at their St. Claude neighborhood home. The following New Year's Eve, he allegedly struck his girlfriend. Her cousin, who was five months pregnant, told police that she started yelling at Jordan about "hitting on a woman." She told police that Jordan then struck her in the face and stomach.

Officers arrested Jordan on Jan. 19, 2009, and booked him with two counts of battery and one of criminal damage to property. He posted $10,000 bond, then appeared twice in Municipal Court to face those charges. On his third date, he didn't show, forfeiting his bond. A municipal judge issued a warrant for his arrest, the record shows.

In the meantime, Jordan faced a state charge for another incident four days after the New Year's Eve attack. He showed up at his girlfriend's home again, struck her face with the butt of a rifle and demanded money, according to a police report. When she ran inside and tried to lock him out, Jordan forced the door open with the rifle, grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head into the bedroom door, the report said.

Jordan struck a plea bargain in July 2009 with the district attorney's office on the felony charges, admitting to simple battery and simple burglary. Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson handed him four months in jail and gave him credit for time served, saying later that she was never made aware of Jordan's Municipal Court conviction or his pending municipal charges. After his arrest in the Clouet Street bloodbath, Landrum-Johnson ruled that Jordan had violated his probation and ordered him to serve four years in prison on the battery and burglary charges.

The case revealed a lack of communication between municipal and state court computer systems. It also lent ammunition to backers of Cannizzaro's shifting of cases to state court, although at least two judges said they felt municipal court was better equipped to handle lower-level misdemeanors.

It's still unclear what impact the move to state court has had on convictions and sentencing. Domestic violence cases are notoriously tough to prosecute, with victims often proving reluctant witnesses.

The DA's offfice now has a team dedicated to screening and prosecuting domestic violence cases and working with victims, said Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bowman, Cannizzaro's spokesman. He said the office initiated about 1,800 domestic violence cases last year.

After Jordan's plea on Tuesday, prosecutor Seth Shute assured the family that Jordan would remain in prison for the duration of the sentence.

"I feel like he should have got the death penalty for what he did," said Ross, 30.

Still, his sister, Dana Ross, said the family accepted the plea deal.

"We didn't want him to bring it to trial and claim he was crazy."