Over the last two weeks, after more than three years, a fatal shooting case in Miami finally came before a jury in Gila County Superior Court.

A manslaughter trial in Globe that started before Labor Day weekend concluded last Wednesday, Sept. 4, when the jurors found defendant Adrian Jordan, of Globe, not guilty.

Jordan was on trial for manslaughter in the May 31, 2021 shooting death of 43-year-old Jonathan Licano in Miami.

In connection with Licano’s fatal shooting, Jordan is currently serving an eight-year mitigated sentence in the Arizona Department of Corrections for misconduct involving weapons. The sentence was imposed by Gila County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chambers Aug. 8, 2022 after Jordan accepted a plea agreement. After last Wednesday’s verdict was read and the jurors dismissed, Jordan was transported back to the Department of Corrections.

In the prosecution’s opening statement, Joseph Collins of the Gila County

Attorney’s Office argued that Jordan, then 27, intentionally gunned Licano down following verbal arguments. Defense attorney Jeffrey Cloud countered that Jordan was acting in self-defense, that Licano approached Jordan with a homemade knife – photographs introduced in court showed a knife found at the shooting scene - and threatened to stab him. In his opening statement, Cloud asked jurors to “listen to all evidence, keep an open mind and return a not guilty verdict.”

On that May night, Miami Police responded to 9-1-1 calls reporting shots fired and found Licano deceased on Adonis Avenue. On June 4, 2021 Jordan was arrested and booked on second degree murder and misconduct involving weapons/prohibited possessor charges. That August, he was taken into custody in Gila County Superior Court on a bench warrant for manslaughter, a class 2 dangerous felony, “on or about May 31, 2021.”

In December 2021, Jordan declined a plea offer from the State of Arizona that included concurrent sentences of 14 years for manslaughter and 10 years on the weapons charge.