Former Charles City Resident Charged with Murder of Missing New Hampton Man
A former Charles City resident has been charged with murder in the death of a missing New Hampton man.
The Howard County Sheriff’s Office says 26-year-old Sayvonne Jordan, now of Elma, is accused of first-degree murder, a Class A felony, in connection with the death of 30-year-old Jonathan Esparza, who was last seen leaving his New Hampton home to visit a friend in Elma on October 20th. According to the criminal complaint, Jordan allegedly killed Esparza the same day at a residence in the 800 block of Main Street in Elma.
On November 11th, authorities located Esparza’s car, but he was still missing. Sheriff Tim Beckman says a search warrant was executed at the Elma residence on November 30th and human remains were located on the property. The remains were sent to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office and were determined to be that of Esparza. No additional details on Esparza’s death have been released.
Last October, Jordan was sentenced to probation on two drug convictions stemming from his arrest when he lived in Charles City in 2018. Last week, he was placed back in the Floyd County Jail for various probation violations, including new drug possession charges in both Howard and Bremer counties.
Jordan is scheduled for probation revocation hearings Tuesday in Floyd County District Court and January 23rd in Howard County District, but those could be rescheduled given his new arrest for murder.
Jordan is now back in the Howard County Jail in Cresco on a $1 million cash bond. The investigation is still ongoing.
Also last week, an arrest warrant was issued for Esparza after he failed to make court appearances in Chickasaw County District Court, where he was facing felony drug and weapons charges from arrests by the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Office in June and July.
