Gigi Jordan: Autistic Son Typed On BlackBerry That He Wanted To Die
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A socialite and former pharmaceutical millionaire testified Thursday that her nonverbal, autistic son told her he wanted to die by typing on a BlackBerry.
Gigi Jordan is on trial, accused of killing her son, 8-year-old Jude Mirra, who died of a drug overdose in February 2010 at the Peninsula Hotel in Midtown.
Jordan insisted her son learned to communicate with her by typing on a laptop and BlackBerry. That is also how he told her about the torture and sexual abuse allegedly inflicted by his biological father and others.
Gigi Jordan: Autistic Son Typed On BlackBerry That He Wanted To Die
In one of the typed exchanges, Jude supposedly wrote, "I feel so bad. I want to be done with life."
When him mother asked if anything made the memories go away, Jude allegedly typed: "Yes. Sleep."
Jordan denied that she typed all the messages herself.
On Wednesday, Jordan admitted on the witness stand that she gave her son a fatal dose of drugs. But she denied the scenario prosecutors have painted: that she climbed on top of the comatose boy, forcibly opened his mouth and shoved a lethal dose of prescription medication down his throat with a syringe.
Prosecutors said Jordan brought 5,918 pills to the hotel with her. She then used a pill crusher, orange juice and possibly vodka to make a poisonous cocktail that she forced into her son's mouth using a syringe, according to prosecutors.
Last month, Dr. Edward Barbieri, a forensic pharmacologist, told jurors he found extremely high levels of Xanax in the child's blood — 19 times what an adult would take. Barbieri said Jude also was fed a lot of Prozac and another seditive that reduces blood pressure, which was given to him at a deadly level of 20 to 40 times that of an adult dosage.
Jordan's lawyers say she was convinced her mob-connected ex-husband was going to kill her, leaving the child's biological father – who she claims sexually abused the boy — to care for him. In her mind, her son would be better off dead, the lawyer said.
The father denies the allegations and has never been charged. Her ex-husband has denied all her allegations and has sued her for slander.
Prosecutors say that whatever her worries, they didn't justify killing the boy.
"The only person he ever needed protection from was the one person he should have been able to rely on the most,'' Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bodganos said in an opening statement last month.
Trained as a nurse, Jordan went on to launch companies that administer drugs to patients in their home. After making an estimated $40 million, she left her career to travel the country seeking medical answers for her son, who didn't speak, writhed in pain and screamed.
He was initially considered autistic, though doctors later diagnosed immune-system abnormalities, post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems, according to her court filings. Jordan said Wednesday that Jude wasn't autistic, but was severely traumatized by being sexually abused.
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