Background: The apartment complex in Hot Springs, Ark. where Jordan Chadick shot his daughter in May 2023 (Google Maps). Inset: Jordan Chadick (Garland County Sheriff’s Office).
An Arkansas man accused of shooting his 6-year-old daughter in the head pleaded guilty to the crime and will spend the next few decades behind bars.
Jordan Chadick, 45, was initially charged with the first-degree murder of his 6-year-old daughter, who died on May 29, 2023, of a gunshot wound. According to court documents obtained by KATV a local ABC affiliate, the shooting appeared to be accidental, as Jordan Chadick had explained to police during interviews at the time. But as police investigated the shooting further, they discovered that Jordan Chadick had a history of violence, alcohol abuse, and drug use, which raised suspicion about his initial account of what happened.
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According to the probable cause affidavit, police arrived at the scene to find Jordan Chadick and his wife Melissa Chadick holding their daughter, who was “lifeless” and “covered in blood.” Jordan Chadick reportedly told police that he had been putting his daughter to bed and “got his gun that he uses to protect his family.” When it came to how his daughter was shot, he said, “I don’t know what happened.”
The Glock was found on the living room table of the home and confiscated as evidence.
Police interviewed Melissa Chadick’s sister, Michelle Merriott, the day after the shooting, and she told police that she overheard Jordan Chadick tell her sister, “we’ve got to get our stories straight.” She also told police that the couple had a fight earlier that day, and Melissa Chadick had asked her husband to leave her house and he refused. He eventually left, but the day was about to take a tragic turn.
Melissa Chadick was on the phone with Michelle Merriott when she arrived at her estranged husband’s apartment. Michelle Merriott told police that she overheard Jordan Chadick telling his wife, “get ready, get ready,” before Melissa Chadick saw her daughter’s lifeless body and began screaming.
Michelle Merriott and her husband Todd Merriott also arrived at the scene and told police that they smelled alcohol on Jordan Chadick’s breath. Jordan Chadick also reportedly told Todd Merriott that the “gun hit my hip.” Todd Merriott also smelled the alcohol on Jordan Chadick’s breath and told police that he believed he was also using methamphetamine.
According to court documents, several other witnesses close to the estranged couple told police that Jordan Chadick had a history of methamphetamine and alcohol abuse, and that if he was “drunk or high, he always had a gun in his hand.” One witness told police he had “put a gun to Melissa’s head.”
One of Jordan Chadick’s neighbors, who had gone to the scene after hearing him scream, said that he told her, “my daughter’s dead, what have I done?” He also reportedly told another neighbor to “call his wife” and say, “I just killed our daughter.”
When police interviewed Jordan Chadick, he reportedly gave “different versions of the events and circumstances” that led up to his daughter’s death. Cellphone evidence also revealed that while he made three calls immediately following the shooting, none of them were to 911 or emergency personnel.
Jordan Chadick was arrested on Aug. 1, 2023, and charged with first-degree murder. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced by a judge to 30 years in prison.
