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Hazel Park Man To Stand Trial In Woman's Death, Body Mutilation

HAZEL PARK (WWJ/AP) -- A Detroit-area man has been ordered to stand trial in the strangling death and mutilation of a 21-year-old woman.

The Detroit News reports that 24-year-old Jordan McClanahan of Hazel Park appeared Friday in Hazel Park District Court.

He is charged with first-degree murder and mutilation of a body. Jessica White's body was found in May in the attic of a home where McClanahan lived.

White, of Troy, was reported missing the previous month. She was strangled with a belt and her fingertips were cut off.

White's mother told police she hadn't heard from her daughter since early in the morning of Saturday, April 23, when she received a cryptic text about an argument between McClanahan and his father.

jessica leigh white
Jessica Leigh White (Family photo)

Questioned by detectives at this home, McClanahan admitted that White had been there, but claimed she'd left to visit someone in the 7 Mile and John R area in Detroit — setting off a search by police and volunteers in that area.

At an an arraignment at Hazel Park District Court in May, McClanahan told the judge that had taken oxycontin as well as Xanax and was drinking alcohol on the night of White's death.

In his About Me blurb, McClanahan continues: "I hate drama people that can't talk about problems face to face like an adult. I love to have a good time and am easily amused and love girls with tattoos."

His chosen favorite quote, attributed to Damon Pope: "Revenge is never about the greater good; it's a visceral need that has to be satisfied or the strong lose focus."

McClanahan faces up to life in prison without parole for the murder charge and 10 years for desecration of a body.

A Sept. 6 hearing has been scheduled for McClanahan in Oakland County Circuit Court.

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