Rita Theresa Ardoin Jordan, 71, was killed in her Abbeville, Louisiana home 04/26/12. The home, where she’d lived alone for over 30 years, is located on Martin Luther King Drive next door to Greater Pleasant Green Baptist Church.
Rita, known as ‘Miss Theresa’ in the community, was a retired Nurse’s Aide with a giving heart. Family remembers her as a kind, but stern woman who “didn’t fool with no one.” She would “bop you real quick, but always wanted the right things.”1
Rita is survived by daughters Waldean and Tracy Jordan; grandchildren Mashyla Landry, Kelly Allen and Serik Jordan; great grandson Weston Landry; and siblings Alzena Guidry, Katy Walker, Cathy Walker, Terry Walker, Rachael Walker, Gerald Ardoin, Otis Walker and Avery Walker, Jr. She is interred at Greater Pleasant Green Baptist Church Cemetery.23
Crime Scene
Rita was babysitting Weston, her one-year-old great grandson, when an intruder entered her home and stabbed her multiple times. There was no evidence of forced entry. Weston was unharmed.
When 17-year old Kelly arrived after school, she was immediately concerned. The doors to her grandmother’s house were locked and her nephew was incessantly crying, a rarity when in Rita’s care. She began yelling and pounding on windows and doors in an attempt to gain access. Receiving no response from Rita, she called Damian Landry, the one-year-old’s father and a City of Abbeville fireman. Fire & Rescue soon arrived and broke a window to gain entry. They found Rita “on the ground, full of blood.”4
According to her sister Cathy, Rita “…had at least 30 stab wounds – including on her face, chest, her left eye, a leg and an arm.” DNA samples were collected from the scene and sent to Acadiana Crime Lab in New Iberia for a possible DNA profile.5 Samples were also taken from individuals later questioned with hopes of a matching profile either from one of them or one already in CODIS.
Waldean, Rita’s daughter, didn’t notice anything missing; however, Lt. David Hardy of Abbeville Police Department confirmed at least one item was taken.1 It’s unknown what the item was, or if its theft was a significant factor in the crime against Rita Theresa.
Theories & Speculation
Dr. Rhonda D. Evans, Associate Criminal Justice Professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, theorized that, in general, such rage-based murders with no financial motive or evidence of break-in indicates an emotional attachment and are often committed by family members or someone very close to the victim.5
Waldean believes her mother knew the killer since there was no forced entry and Rita never opened the door for strangers.6
A Family’s Plea
Kelly Allen desperately misses her grandmother and asks that anyone with information step up and come forward “…this has changed our families. Not a day goes by that we don’t think, cry, laugh and remember our loved one. It’s hard to move forward…someone has taken her from us. It’s a small town, with a busy street that the murder occurred. Someone out there knows something. The reward is $5,000.” 7 4
Have Information?
Abbeville Police Department is working to solve the Rita Theresa Ardoin Jordan case and bring her killer(s) to justice. If you have any information about this crime, please call (337) 893-2511.
Please submit corrections/updates here.
Sources:
- Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Unsolved, page 4A, published 08/15/12. [↩][↩]
- Fletcher Funeral Home Obituary, accessed 08/21/20. [↩]
- Find A Grave, accessed 08/21/20. [↩]
- Vermillion Today: Two years after death of Rita Jordan, not much has changed inside home where she was murdered, published 04/23/14. [↩][↩]
- Abbeville Meridional: Jordan stabbed 30 times? Sister says it was a ‘cruel’ way to die, pages 1-2, published 05/22/12. [↩][↩]
- Abbeville Meridional: Jordan, page 3, published 04/26/13. [↩]
- Abbeville Meridional: Jordan’s granddaughter reflects, page 2, published 04/24/14.[↩]