North Iowa Man Charged with Murder Waives Speedy Trial, Gets Trial Delayed

A former Charles City resident accused of killing a New Hampton man has waived his right to a speedy trial, which has now been delayed to later this summer.

26-year-old Sayvonne Jordan of Elma faces charges of first-degree murder, going armed with intent and abuse of a corpse, in the death of 30-year-old Jonathan Esparza on October 20, 2022. A search of Jordan’s residence on November 30th located human remains, determined to be those of Esparza.

Jordan has pleaded not guilty to all charges and initially requested a speedy trial. However, last Wednesday (03.08), Jordan waived his right to a speedy trial and Friday (03.10), his trial was continued to August 7th in Howard County District Court.

During the same search of Jordan’s residence in November, authorities found over 250 grams of marijuana along with drug paraphernalia. He has pleaded not guilty to two felony drug charges and his trial on those charges is scheduled for May 3rd.

Jordan is also scheduled for trial March 30th in Bremer County District Court, where he faces charges of possession of marijuana and driving while barred.

Jordan also faces probation revocation in Floyd County, where on October 4th, less than three weeks before he allegedly killed Esparza, he was convicted on a pair of drug charges stemming from his arrest in Charles City in April of 2018.

Jordan is being held in the Howard County Jail in Cresco on a $1 million cash bond.