“I hope she finds healing. It never should have happened.”
Those words echoed through a courtroom on Friday as 38-year-old Christopher Jordan addressed the preteen daughter of the man he killed, bringing a solemn conclusion to a fight between roommates that turned fatal in Gary, Indiana. Jordan, a resident of Lansing, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after previously entering a guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter, a Level 2 felony, stemming from the Feb. 1, 2025, death of 33-year-old John Walker-Spencer.
The tragedy unfolded inside an apartment located on the 2400 block of Waverly Drive, where Gary Police officers responded on Feb. 1, 2025. Authorities discovered Walker-Spencer lying in the living room with a stab wound to the abdomen. He was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital Northlake in Gary.
Arguments and Evidentiary Challenges in Court
During the sentencing hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Judy Massa outlined the complexities that had faced the state, noting there were evidentiary hurdles that would have complicated a full trial. Among them, an ex-girlfriend of Jordan was on the phone at the time of the incident but did not directly witness the fatal altercation, and Jordan did not give a statement to police.
Despite those hurdles, Massa credited Jordan for appearing “genuinely remorseful” for his actions.
Defense attorney Eric Morris presented context regarding the moments leading up to the stabbing, explaining that both men had been consuming alcohol when a verbal dispute escalated into a physical struggle. During that deadly “tussle,” Morris said, Jordan inflicted a single stab wound to Walker-Spencer’s abdomen.
Morris also pointed to his client’s troubled upbringing, telling the court that Jordan grew up in an environment marked by abuse and left home during his early teen years. Describing a pattern of self-destructive decisions linked to past criminal cases, the defense attorney argued that Jordan had never received proper mental health treatment to cope with the trauma of his childhood.
Daughter and Mother Share Victim Statements in Court
The emotional toll of the killing was laid bare through written statements read aloud during the proceedings. A letter from Walker-Spencer’s daughter, who was a preteen when her father died, was presented by a prosecutor. In it, she described him as the “most fun dad” and her primary source of happiness.
An additional letter from the victim’s mother, Roxie Diggs, noted the added tragedy that the girl’s mother had previously passed away from cancer.
Commissioner Karyn Price, presiding on the bench while filling in for Judge Gina Jones, addressed Jordan directly before handing down the sentence. Price noted that she accepted the plea agreement primarily because of the extensive work put in by the legal teams and the defendant’s clear remorse regarding the victim’s daughter. She emphasized that Jordan would need to work on managing his emotions and obtaining necessary psychological support.
