CLARK COUNTY, Wash. — Last summer, Erica Jordan's husband was arrested after threatening to kill her. On Monday, he did.
Despite a no-contact order, James Jordan, 45, broke into his estranged wife's home Monday night and shot her before turning the gun on himself, according to the Clark County Sheriff's Office. It happened around 11 p.m. in the Minnehaha area while Erica Jordan's two daughters, ages 12 and 16, were home. The two girls told police their mother was shot and killed just minutes after their stepfather forced himself inside.
James Jordan was not living in the home at the time, according to evidence and statements collected by the sheriff's office.
This wasn't the first time James Jordan had violated his five-year no-contact order. He was most recently arrested on April 4, 2023 for the violation, according to court documents.
Clark County prosecuting attorneys confirmed that James Jordan did wear a GPS for a short time, beginning at the time of the April violation through the end of May.
They explained that the GPS monitoring was part of James Jordan's pre-trial release conditions, but once he pleaded guilty, the court did not impose the monitoring as a condition of his sentence. Since James Jordan's guilty plea last month, officials said he hasn't had any open or pending cases in Clark County, so there would not have been GPS monitoring available for the court to order at the time of the murder.
In last summer's incident, Erica Jordan told officers at the time that she believed he'd kill her if she wanted a divorce. A few months later, a judge ordered him not to contact her, nor come within 1,000 feet of her home.
"It is a sad, sad day for Clark County," said Michelle Bart, president and founder of the National Women's Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation, an advocacy nonprofit based in Vancouver. "I just don't know what to say anymore. It just seems like we keep repeating ourselves and victims are not being protected. I just don't understand it. How many times can we sit in court for protective orders, only for the court not to do anything to protect them beyond that?"
Resources
If you or someone you know may be experiencing domestic violence, call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, text START to 88788 or visit thehotline.org.
Visit the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence website or the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence website for additional local resources.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call the 24/7 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, text 988 or visit their website.