Each year Jordan Hickey and his mother Jeannine would find a place on Mission Bay to enjoy the fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Not this year.
It’s been two months since the 21-year-old National City resident was shot and left for dead while his killer remains free.
This afternoon, San Diego County Crime Stoppers and Jordan’s family held a news conference on Highland Avenue in National City to unveil a billboard publicizing a $2,500 reward for information about his murder.
Hickey, a developmentally disabled adult, was just blocks from home when he was fatally shot while riding his bicycle. The homicide occurred April 29 at 12:35 a.m. in the 2800 block of Grove Street in Lincoln Acres, an unincorporated area of National City.
Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Roy Frank said the incident has the appearance of being gang-related although it’s clear Jordan was not involved with any gangs. “It appears this had nothing to do with theft or any altercation,” he said. “We always look into possible similar cases, but this case is unusual.”
Jeannine wants justice. “They stole my precious joy from my life,” she said choking back tears. “I won’t sleep-I can’t sleep until these people are behind bars.”
One week before his death, Jeannine said Jordan was looking into scholarships at a school in Carlsbad for gemology to learn how to make jewelry. “But ultimately, he wanted to make video games for Sony.” Jordan was an anime and manga enthusiast.
Jordan’s 18-year-old brother Justin is working two jobs to help his mother financially and said he feels like his life has been put on hold. “It’s time for people to step up and do the right thing,” he said. “I feel like nobody cares. He was just an innocent kid…”
Girlfriend of five years, Valeria Padilla met Jordan in high school when she was 16. “It’s not fair to outlive someone at this age,” she said sobbing. “It’s wrong that a person like him had to go this way. No one should lose someone that way.”
His loved ones describe him as being sweet, gentle, goofy and a prankster. “He liked to play pranks on me,” Padilla said of Jordan.
“He was brilliant at computers,” Jeannine said.
Jeannine also said that Jordan was very trusting. “That was the problem,” she said. She had lectured him to be careful not to let people take advantage of him. “He’d say, ‘Why would anyone want to hurt me’? ‘I didn’t do anything to anybody.’”
CBS Outdoor donated the billboard space to the Hickey family, for which, they said they were very grateful.
Anyone with information on the identity and or location of the person/persons responsible for this crime is asked to call SDSD homicide at (858) 974?2321 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580?8477. Anonymous email and text messages can be sent in via www.sdcrimestoppers.com.
