An Oklahoma teen who beat his adoptive mother to death with a hammer will be tried as an adult for her murder, a judge has ruled.
Jordan Weems, 16, has been charged with first-degree murder in the January 27 killing of 47-year-old Spring Weems.
The teen allegedly confessed to bludgeoning Spring to death in the family’s $340,000 home in Edmond, a town 15 miles north of Oklahoma City.
Prosecutors say Weems retrieved a hammer from the garage, waited for his mother to come out of the kitchen, then struck her repeatedly in the head before rolling her body to the curb in a garbage bin.
He has also been charged with desecration of a corpse and unauthorized removal of a dead body, Logan County Court records showed.
Prosecutors allege the teenager killed Spring after she punished him for repeatedly running away by forcing him to wear an orange prison-style jumpsuit.
Weems had been suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the murder, according to motions filed by the prosecution earlier this year.
The teen’s public defender had petitioned the court to try him as a juvenile or youthful offender, but court records show that a Logan County judge on Friday ruled that the high schooler will be prosecuted as an adult.
Jordan Weems, 16, will be tried as an adult after he beat his adoptive mother to death with a hammer on January 27 this year. He has been charged with first-degree murder, desecration of a corpse and unauthorized removal of a dead body
Spring Weems, 47, was described as a ‘devoted mother’ to her five children
Under Oklahoma law, a 15, 16, or 17-year-old charged with first-degree murder is automatically tried and treated as an adult.
Weems has been held without bond at the Canadian County Juvenile Detention Center in El Reno since his arrest on January 28.
He was transferred to the adults-only Logan County Jail ahead of his May 22 court appearance.
He continues to be held without bond. The judge on Friday also instructed his attorney to file a written motion related to a psychological evaluation for Weems.
The teen will be back in court for his detention review on June 17 and is scheduled to have a formal arraignment two days later.
At the time of her killing, Spring had three adoptive children – Weems and his biological brother and sister – living in her Edmond home.
All three children are still minors and were adopted by Spring and her ex-husband 11 years ago, according to court records.
Spring’s biological son, identified in court records as AW, was also living in the home.
Prosecutors say Weems confessed to confessed to bludgeoning Spring to death in the family’s $340,000 home in Edmond, a town 15 miles north of Oklahoma City
During the preliminary investigation, one teen told officers the other killed his mother and placed her body outside in the poly cart bin used for trash collection
Her disappearance first raised alarm when AW went to the house on January 27 and realized his mother was gone.
When AW asked Weems where she was, the teen replied that she was helping her oldest daughter with her new baby.
By the next day, Spring still hadn’t come home, even though her car was still in the driveway and her bedroom door was locked, according to the affidavit.
Spring’s other adopted son, identified as TW in the affidavit, told investigators that he and Weems had been punished by their mother for ‘sneaking out of the house’ at night and running away from police officers.
The boys were allegedly forced to write letters apologizing to the police and to anyone affected by their behavior, per the affidavit.
TW also claimed that Spring locked away Jordan’s clothes and replaced them with an orange prison-style jumpsuit to ‘show him what life as a prisoner might be like if he did not start behaving,’ the affidavit said.
Spring allegedly simulated prison meals by only serving the two boys ham and beans or chicken and beans.
During this time, Weems mentioned several times that he was going to kill his mother, TW told investigators with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Spring, seen with a friend, frequently posted about her children’s athletic accomplishments and shared pictures of her family on social media
Among Spring’s posts is a picture of a key ring with a handwritten note, seemingly penned by Jordan Weems for Mother’s Day in May, 2021, when he would have been 11 years old
AW felt that ‘something was not right’ when he could not make contact with his mother, so he called his father and Spring’s ex-husband Levi.
Levi then called the police to report her missing after he realized that his ex-wife was not with their oldest daughter caring for her grandchild, as Weems had claimed.
Logan County Sheriff’s deputies came to the house and left without discovering anything.
After they left, Levi and AW talked to Spring’s other adopted son because ‘he was acting like he knew something and was scared,’ according to the affidavit.
That’s when the boy admitted that Weems killed Spring and threw her into the trash barrel, the documents state.
Weems was taken to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office on January 28, signed a Miranda waiver and agreed to speak to detectives.
He admitted to killing Spring with a hammer he took from the garage, according to the affidavit.
He said he waited until she left the kitchen and struck her in the head with the hammer, before hitting her repeatedly with both the hammer and his fists ‘until she wasn’t moving anymore,’ according to investigators.
Spring, pictured with loved ones, was also an active parishioner at the non-denominational evangelical Life Church, and frequently shared her faith online
He then said he placed her body in the trash can and ‘rolled it to the curb at the end of the driveway,’ the affidavit said.
Prosecutors also alleged that the killing was planned and ‘not a crime of passion or an instantaneous decision.’
Spring was a devout Christian and frequently posted about her children’s athletic accomplishments and shared pictures of her family on social media.
Among her posts is a picture of a key ring with a handwritten note, seemingly penned by Weems for Mother’s Day in May 2021, when he would have been 11 years old.
It read: ‘Dear mom, I love you because you are smart, kind and you are very loving that’s what I love about you. You’re (sic) son, Jordan Weems.’
Spring left behind five children – three teenage sons, a teenage daughter and an adult daughter in her twenties. Her adult daughter recently had a baby, making Spring a grandmother for the first time.
She was also an active parishioner at the non-denominational evangelical Life Church, and frequently shared her faith online.
