Girl's mother calls murder charges 'bittersweet'
Meika Jordan's mother says she feels "bittersweet" about second-degree murder charges laid in the death of the six-year-old.
Meika's father, Spencer Lee Jordan, and her stepmother, Marie Eve Magoon, have been charged with one count each of second-degree murder in the girl's November death.
The couple appeared in a Calgary courtroom briefly Tuesday morning via closed circuit television, where they told a judge they don't have lawyers yet and hope to get legal aid.
Outside the courthouse, the girl's biological mother Kyla Guttman praised police for the investigation that led to the arrests Sunday night.
“It’s [a] very bittersweet feeling," she said. "It's nice to finally know they are being looked at and that finally some things are going to start to make progress here. It's very difficult still at this point."
Also outside court was Jordan's father Ken Jordan. He wiped away tears as he described feeling numb and in disbelief about the charges laid in his granddaughter's death.
"Justice for her could mean my son could go to jail. I know. Let me ask you this. Could you live with that?"
Meika was in her father and stepmother's care at the time of her injuries. She died the next day in hospital with Guttman at her side.
Family members initially told police the girl fell down a flight of stairs at the home on Temple Drive N.E., but police declared her death a homicide when an autopsy discovered she died from multiple blunt force trauma. Earlier this month, police said they believe Meika may have received other injuries prior to her death, including a severe burn to the palm of her hand and fingers.
Police haven't commented on the motive in this case, saying it was before the courts.
