Jordan Brown was born on August 12, 1997, in New Beaver, Pennsylvania. He lived with his father, Chris Brown, and his father's fiancée, Kenzie Marie Houk, along with her two daughters from a previous relationship. Jordan was an active child who enjoyed hunting with his father and was familiar with firearms, having received a youth-model 20-gauge shotgun as a Christmas gift. At the time of the incident, he was a fifth-grade student with no prior history of behavioral issues or criminal activity.

On the morning of February 20, 2009, 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, who was eight months pregnant, was found shot in the back of the head while sleeping in her bed at the family's farmhouse in New Beaver, Pennsylvania. Her 4-year-old daughter discovered the body and alerted nearby workers. Jordan Brown, then 11 years old, was arrested the following morning and charged as an adult with two counts of homicide. The prosecution alleged that Jordan used his youth-model shotgun to commit the crime before boarding the school bus with Houk's 7-year-old daughter.​

After spending over three years in a juvenile detention facility, Jordan was tried in juvenile court and adjudicated delinquent on April 13, 2012, for the murders of Houk and her unborn child. However, on May 8, 2013, the Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated the finding of delinquency, citing "palpable abuse of discretion." Subsequently, on July 18, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously overturned his conviction, stating that the evidence was insufficient to support the charges. The court highlighted the lack of eyewitnesses, DNA, or fingerprint evidence linking Jordan to the crime.

Following his exoneration, Jordan Brown filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Pennsylvania State Police, alleging that investigators fabricated evidence and violated his constitutional rights during the investigation. As of late 2024, the lawsuit was proceeding through the federal court system.