John Jefferson
Background: Steven Wheeler (Macomb County Sheriff’s Office). Inset: Jordan Wheeler (Dignity Memorial).
A Michigan man who fired five shots into his estranged wife’s head while their children were nearby was convicted of her murder.
Steven Wheeler, 31, heard the jury’s verdict on Jan. 23 following a six-day trial in the case of the fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Jordan Wheeler, 33. They were given the option of finding Wheeler guilty of first-degree, premeditated murder or the lesser charge of second-degree murder. The jury, comprised of six men and six women, heard gut-wrenching testimony from the couple’s 9-year-old son, who was one of two children at the home during the October 2023 tragedy. After three hours of deliberation, they found Wheeler guilty of first-degree murder.
Included in the evidence against Wheeler was his own voice, heard on a 911 call placed by Jordan Wheeler during their violent confrontation on Oct. 19, 2023. That piece of evidence was requested during jury deliberations, according to The Oakland Press, along with a video recorded by Jordan Wheeler as she approached her estranged husband’s home to pick up their children and documentation about their child custody agreement.
The couple had been in the process of getting divorced. The Oakland Press reported that during the separation, Jordan moved in with her sister. On the night of Oct. 19, she got a call from one of her children concerning the behavior of their father. She rushed to the house, recording the confrontation, and Steven Wheeler met her at the door in an apparent rage, shouting expletives including, “Get the f— out of my house” and “Get the f— out of my life.”
When Wheeler grabbed his wife in the kitchen, she called 911. During the call, the dispatcher asked if there were guns in the house, and Jordan confirmed that there were. While still on the phone, Steven retrieved a gun and shot his wife in the head five times. He can be heard in the call saying, “F— you. I f—ing killed you, b—-. I shot you in the f—ing head.”
Two of the couple’s children, aged 7 and 8 years old at the time, had run outside to their mother’s car parked outside the home seconds before the shooting began. The older of the two boys testified that he heard the gunfire and saw flashes inside the house.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested Steven Wheeler, who now faces the possibility of a life sentence without parole.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 26.
Read the full article here