Wasilla man sentenced for 2019 murder

A man charged with murdering a Wasilla teen in January of 2019 was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison September 30 at the Palmer Courthouse.

Jordan Flowers, 23, was sentenced to 30 years with 10 years suspended for second-degree murder, as well as 10 years supervised probation following his sentence by Palmer Judge Jonathan Woodman, who had delayed the sentencing on three previous occasions.

In previous hearings and court documents, it was reported that Flowers, then 19, shot and killed Gunnar Swan while a group teenagers sat in a Jeep in a Meadow Lakes neighborhood early Sunday morning, January 27, 2019.

That bullet passed through Swan’s neck, through the windshield of the Jeep, and struck a building where the car was parked, investigators wrote.

At the time, witnesses said they feared Flowers would to shoot them as well, causing them to flee the scene, but later choosing to speak with police.

Flowers told the investigators he had been drinking that due to drinking, he couldn’t remember who shot Swan or what happened “after the gun went off.” He later testified that he had “blacked out” and could not remember what happened to Swan.

Court documents showed that Flowers was sitting directly behind Swan in the Jeep when he put a handgun between the front seat and headrest where Swan was and pulled the trigger.

Initially, Flowers was charged with manslaughter, and posted his bail, which was set at $100,000. During the course of investigation, however, Flowers’ bail was increased and the charges were changed to first-degree murder, and along with several charges he faced, Flowers remained behind bars. Prosecutors also revealed he had a history of violent crimes, including holding a loaded gun to his mother’s head while threatening to kill her back in 2016.

The trial had been pushed back several times during 2019 and 2020, as well as the sentencing hearing being delayed multiple times during the summer.