After putting his daughter, who was six years old, to bed, an Arkansas father mur**red her to take her life. In a later statement, he informed the authorities, “I don’t know what happened.”
45-year-old Jordan Chadick sh0t his daughter, Caroline, in the head on May 29, 2023, from his Hot Springs house once. He confessed to second-degree mu**er, so later this month, he was given thirty years in jail.
The tragedy began when Jordan and his estranged wife Melissa, the mother of their two children, got into an argument. Jordan first refused when told to leave her residence, but he finally followed Caroline.
There was a report of a gunsh0t being fired at his residence later that evening, and the Garland County Sheriff’s Office received the information. When the police arrived, they found Jordan covered in blood and Melissa holding Caroline’s lifeless body, which was also covered in blood.
Jordan made three phone calls right after the gunsh0t, none of which addressed emergency services. Officials said that one of these calls was allegedly to Melissa, where he admitted to the horrific murd*r.
Melissa told officials later on that she and Jordan had had some arguments that day, which resulted in him leaving her house with Caroline. She arrived at his house that evening, and he greeted her outside with a dire warning to “get ready.” Sadly, it was at that point that she hurried inside only to find, according to the officials, her daughter’s dead body.
Investigators had a chance to interrogate Melissa’s sister, Michelle Merriott, the next day. While Melissa was arriving at Jordan’s apartment, Michelle was on the phone with her and hurried to the scene, accompanied by her husband, Todd Merriott. Court records show Michelle claimed to have overheard Jordan telling Melissa to “get our stories straight,” during their visit.
Todd Merriott also claimed that Jordan showed anxiety and mentioned the “gun hit my hip.” A worried neighbor offered more information, noting that the split couple frequently got into explosive disputes. She remembered Jordan’s agonized scream on the night of the issue and a strong bang. Jordan showed signs of worry when she went to check on them, “everything is not okay,” and laments, “oh my God, my daughter’s dead, what have I done,” The records indicated. After leaving to contact 911, she returned to discover Jordan confessing to his wife, “I just killed our daughter.” Before she left, she had called 911.
Jordan proceeded to get a rifle he kept for protection after telling police he had been putting Caroline to bed. Court records state he answered, “I don’t know what happened,” when asked how the incident happened.
Jordan stated during first police interviews that the sho0ting was accidental, however authorities suspect he was intoxicated by dr*gs and @lcohol at the time. Officials said he smelled like @lcohol and had a long history of dr*g usage, including methamphetamine.
Close friends of the couple verified Jordan’s past of meth and @lcohol misuse and pointed out that he always carried a gun when drunk. According to court records, one witness remembered an instance in which Jordan aimed a weapon at Melissa’s head and said that this had happened multiple times throughout their marriage.
Jordan gave conflicting stories of the events preceding the death of his daughter when police subsequently questioned him. First arrested on August 1, 2023, he was initially accused of first-degree murd*r.