18-03-2025
Charges: Woman, 23, fatally shot man in his rural Minnesota home
A Kennedy, Minnesota woman is charged with the murder of a 42-year-old Hallock man, according to court filings in Kittson County.
Jordan Hanson, 23, is charged with one count each of 2nd-degree and 3rd-degree murder in the death of Justin Esparza.
A tribute to Esparza is contained in a GoFundMe set up by family, which states Esparza had moved away from the Twin Cities to be closer to his father and half-brother, "hoping to build a connection with the family he had never known growing up."
"Justin found joy in his work while living there. He labored in the potato fields and tended to bees as a beekeeper — work he loved so much that it never felt like a job to him. He took pride in it and often spoke of how much he enjoyed it," the fundraiser post reads.
The family is raising funds for Esparza's funeral service and other costs. As of Tuesday afternoon, it has raised over $,1700 of its $10,000 goal.
Warning: Some of the following contains graphic content.
The Kittson County Sheriff's Office received a call on March 13 around 1:30 p.m. from a woman that reported her daughter — identified as Hanson — had said she had been as Esparza's Hallock home and shot him in the head.
Hanson's mother said her daughter was recently at a drug treatment center and "evidently got picked up by someone during the night and came back to Kittson County." The mother said Hanson was also in possession of Esparza's dog and vehicle.
Authorities went to Esparza's home and found the 42-year-old in the living room, lying "face down with his lower half on the floor and upper half on the couch." There was a significant amount of blood on the couch around his head and on the floor, according to the complaint.
Esparza was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputies found a semi-automatic handgun lying on the couch, a couple of feet away from Esparza. A Smith and Wesson 9mm was also found near his body, with a single casing found on the floor in the living room.
When law enforcement attempted to arrest Hanson, her family told a deputy she was "completely delusional from using drugs." At one point she asked the deputy "what all the sugar beets were still doing on the ground."
A witness told investigators that her had been smoking meth with Hanson and Esparza at the latter's home, and that he saw Hanson shoot Esparza.
Hanson is set to make her initial appearance in court for a Rule 8 hearing on Wednesday morning.
