OAKLAND PARK, Fla. — A 14-year-old boy’s troubled father was serving time in prison in Florida when a 16-year-old boy fatally stabbed him on Monday in Broward County, records show.
When Jordan Dowdy was born, his father, Jeffery Dowdy, was already a felon convicted of possession of a controlled substance, and his mother, Tiffany Simpson, had been a domestic violence victim.
It’s a pattern that continued while Jordan was growing up, county and state records show.
Simpson, 36, told Local 10 News on Wednesday that Jordan had been in foster care, a state-supervised living arrangement, at a house in Oakland Park, since April.
The Florida Department of Corrections took custody of Dowdy, then 34, on April 29 when he had already been convicted of 15 crimes, including 14 in Broward.
His two most recent convictions were for arrests in 2024 for battery upon a person 65 or older and possession of a controlled substance after the FDOC had released him from prison on Jan. 5, 2024.
Simpson was arrested for child neglect after witnesses saw her boyfriend, Wilfredo Maldonado, also a convicted felon, armed with a knife when he injured two of her sons on April 28, 2024, at her home in Hollywood, records show.
“I observed Simpson yell at her children ... the house was in disarray and dirty ... Simpson advised she has 9 children,” a Hollywood police officer wrote, according to the report.
Police officers also arrested Maldonado on two counts of aggravated battery and contacted Florida DCF Child Protective Investigations, records show.
Dowdy, 35, was at the Charlotte Correctional Institution in Punta Gorda after a two-year prison sentence when deputies arrested 16-year-old Ruben Whitworth for his son’s murder at the group home along Northeast Third Avenue, between 53rd Court and 56th Street.
“The kid kept threatening him. I expressed to multiple people who were here within the home with him,” Simpson said on Wednesday.
Kerry Pittillo and Akyra Gulley are among the neighbors of the foster home who said the fatal stabbing was a tragedy waiting to happen since some of the house’s residents were so out of control that they had made threats to hurt and kill vulnerable neighbors and pets.
Gulley said Jordan, who was a respectful neighbor, was the exception and was heartbroken when he was covered in blood, as Oakland Park Fire Rescue paramedics tried to save his life. BSO deputies reported Jordan died in the hospital.
“He had a big heart, he loved everybody that he came in contact with, he loved football,” Simpson said while holding pictures of Jordan wearing a football team’s uniform.
Corrections processed Ruben, who turned 16 on July 31. He was at the Juvenile Assessment Center before he appeared in juvenile court. He faces a first-degree murder charge.
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice released Ruben’s mugshot on Tuesday afternoon. His next court hearing is on Sept. 27.
Related stories
- Audio of 911 caller after teen’s fatal stabbing in Broward: ‘It’s a foster home’
- Mother of slain 14-year-old boy says murder suspect ‘kept threatening him’ before stabbing in Broward
- Teen’s fatal stabbing at Oakland Park home leads to questions about who lives there
- Teen faces murder charge in Broward juvenile court after 14-year-old boy dies
Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.
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