Pharma Millionaire Who Killed Autistic Son Found Dead in NYC Home After Supreme Court Denies Bail

Accused child killer Gigi Jordan speaks to the Daily News at Rikers Island where she await
Craig Warga/NY Daily News via Getty Images
Ethan Letkeman

Gigi Jordan, 62, a multimillionaire pharmaceutical executive convicted of killing her 8-year-old autistic son, was found dead in her Brooklyn home on Friday morning in a suspected suicide, according to multiple reports.

The finding of Jordan’s body came after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an order Thursday that would require her to return to prison. The cause of her death has not been officially determined, but a note was found in her home, the New York Daily News reported, citing a law enforcement source.

Jordan, who is from Belgium, was accused of giving a fatal dose of medication pills to her autistic son, Jude Mirra, inside a Manhattan luxury hotel suite in February 2010. She then ingested several pills before emailing her aunt, who alerted the police.

During her trial, Jordan’s attorneys claimed she attempted a murder-suicide in extreme emotional disturbance because she believed that one of her ex-husbands was planning on murdering her. Jordan further believed that if she were murdered, her other ex-husband would take custody of Jude and abuse him. Both men denied the accusations, according to NBC New York.

The pharma millionaire was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2014, although a jury acquitted her of her murder charge.

Jordan’s conviction was overturned in 2020 when a Manhattan federal judge determined that her right to a fair trial had been violated due to a procedural error when the trial judge closed the courtroom to the public for 15 minutes. She was ordered released from state custody on bail while she pursued the process for a new trial.

Sotomayor Reverses Her Order, Revokes Bail for Gigi Jordan, Mother Who Killed Autistic Son

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed her bail, saying the closed proceeding was inconsequential and that it had not violated her right to a fair trial.

UPI

Justice Sonia Sotomayor (UPI)

Jordan filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court, where Justice Sotomayor, who oversees the second court, issued an order on December 20 that granted the 62-year-old bail on an emergency basis, according to Law & Crime.

However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office filed a brief to the Supreme Court on December 27 requesting that the Supreme Court should reverse its decision over granting her bail.

Two days later, Sotomayor reversed her earlier decision and revoked Jordan’s bail, meaning the 62-year-old was expected to be sent back to prison. She was then found dead hours later.

A medical examiner will later determine her cause of death.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.

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