Man sentenced to 8 years for role in murder

Interim State’s Attorney Amanda Leonard had asked Judge Brett Wilson for the maximum sentences of 10 years for the conspiracy charge and five years for the firearms charge.

Jordan was initially charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as multiple conspiracy, assault and firearms charges.

During the statement of fact prior to Wilson accepting Jordan’s plea, Leonard said a .22 caliber Ruger handgun and ammunition were found in Jordan’s apartment when a search warrant was executed after the murder. Jordan, who was prohibited from possessing a firearm at the time due to a protective order, was also seen on surveillance video with accomplices, including recently convicted Da’Yon Lofland, during Sorrell’s murder.

Sorrell’s mother and father both gave victim’s impact statements. Andre Sorrell said the murder of his son had “ripped the fabric of our family apart.”

“It’s the hardest fight I’ve ever had, never to see my son or talk to my son again,” Sorrell said. “Over something so senseless.”

“Things will never be the same,” Sorrell told the judge as he asked for the application of the maximum penalty.

Sorrell’s mother, Millie Ortiz, told Wilson in her statement that losing her son was, “the hardest thing a mother has to go through.”

“As a mom we’re supposed to protect our kids,” she said though tears. Ortiz told the judge she was called to the scene of the shooting and saw her son laying on the ground “fighting for his life.”

“I can never get my son back again, he’s gone,” Ortiz said.

She asked the judge to consider the community and her family when he rendered his decision.

“Please think about this community that I was raised in — now it’s a nightmare,” she said.

Ortiz told Wilson that since her son’s murder she has been very concerned for her own wellbeing, as well as for the safety of her kids.

“Save this community,” she implored.

Prior to the decision, Leonard said, “a message needs to be sent.” She called the murder “a senseless and heinous act.”

Defense attorney Michelle Barnes told the court that at the time of the murder Jordan had been working and had just established himself in an apartment. An adopted child born to a parent with a drug addiction, Jordan had just begun to, “start making a life for himself,” Barnes said.

She said that night Jordan “had the good sense to leave the gun, but the bad sense to go out looking for trouble.”

Barnes said Jordan had missed chances that night to take “off ramps” to exit the situation, and that he understood the impact of what had happed and “felt it necessary to take responsibility” by pleading guilty to the two charges.

In a brief statement, Jordan said, “words can’t take back” the events that led to Sorrell’s death, but he apologized to the family and offered his condolences.

As Wilson explained his decision, he said Sorrell’s murder was part of a recent spike in murders, and that the crime and others like it were senseless violence undertaken “for no real reason.”

Wilson used the example of stopping at a stop sign to illustrate that people obey the law not just for the sake of the law, but to avoid negative consequences — in the case of a stop sign to avoid being struck by another car.

He said “senseless, thoughtless killings just to kill” need to be deterred, and that while one instance was unlikely to totally change the situation, it was still an important step in the right direction.

Wilson said in his experience, a group of people can bring themselves to do things they would not do individually, but that while Jordan would likely do things differently if he could, he had played a part in an incident that cost a man his life, a crime that was “a stain on the community.”

He admonished Jordan, “Peace starts with you,” and that after serving his sentence he had to be careful about his choices and those with whom he associated.

{span class=”print_trim”}Mike Detmer is a staff writer for the Dorchester Star and Star Democrat based in Maryland. You can reach him at mdetmer@chespub.com.