PONTIAC, Mich. – A grieving mother had emotional words in court Wednesday for a Hazel Park man charged with murdering her 21-year-old daughter.
Jordan McClanahan, 24, was found guilty last month by an Oakland County jury of first-degree murder. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Jesse White's family and friends packed the courtroom Wednesday, but the only person who spoke to McClanahan was White's mother, Karen White, who couldn't contain her rage.
"Every day hurts, and there's days I have to remind myself just to be able to breathe," she said.
White recounted the horrifying week last May when her 21-year-old daughter went missing after spending the evening with McClanahan.
McClanahan told White he dropped her daughter off at 7 Mile Road and John R Street in Detroit.
After offering a $2,500 reward, White joined family members and volunteers searching for her daughter. Six days later, McClanahan confessed to strangling Jesse White to death and wrapping her body in a blue tarp with duct tape and wire. He said he stuffed her body in the attic of his father's Hazel Park home.
"I wish you nothing but evil in prison," White said. "I hope jailhouse justice is given to you. May you rot in hell, you monster."
Repulsed by McClanahan's presence, she left the courtroom before he spoke.
"I was heavily medicated on street drugs and I should not have been out or driving and I am sorry I took her from you," McClanahan said.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"I'm just glad for Jesse that justice was served and he can't hurt anybody else ever, which he would have done," Karen White said. "I just want to go home now with my family."
McClanahan was also convicted of desecrating a corpse, having mutilated White's body after killing her.