SANTA ANA (CNS) – A timeshare executive was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison for nearly killing his longtime girlfriend in their Irvine condominium, leaving the victim in a persistent vegetative state.
Jordan Adrian Salkin, 40, was convicted Dec. 11 of attempted murder and domestic violence, both felonies, with sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury in a domestic violence incident for the May 7, 2017, attack on then-28-year-old Alexandra “Allie” Flores.
Salkin has credit for 1,826 days behind bars, or about five years.
When the victim dies the defendant could face a charge of murder.
Flores was a “healthy, vibrant young woman,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky, who was elected an Orange County Superior Court judge on March 5, said in her opening statement of the trial on Nov. 21.
“She suffered a severe traumatic brain injury when she was attacked by the defendant. … She doesn’t speak anymore. … She doesn’t eat by herself, so you won’t be hearing from her.”
The two had been dating for about five years at the time and had been living together for about four years.
Flores suffered fractures to her shoulder blade, spine and a spleen injury, Bokosky said. She also sustained a brain stem bleed with cuts to her head and bruises all over her body, the prosecutor added.
The two went to a restaurant in Laguna Beach across from Main Beach earlier in the day. They arrived about 4:50 p.m. and sat down at the bar.
Salkin was doing business and got up multiple times to take phone calls, including a nearly half-hour one, Bokosky said. Surveillance video shows Salkin getting “clearly upset about something” and leaving Flores behind but returning a short time later to retrieve something before leaving for good, Bokosky said.
Flores called for an Uber and arrived at the couple’s residence at 1433 Abelia before Salkin, who stopped at a gas station on the way and called the victim’s aunt, who raised Flores, so she was considered more like her mother, Bokosky said.
Salkin told the aunt that Flores was “spoiled rotten” and he wanted her “out of my house,” according to Bokosky. The aunt called Flores, who told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Bokosky said.
“Those are the last words she heard out of her daughter’s mouth,” Bokosky said.
A neighbor told investigators he was home that evening watching television with friends when they heard a “loud thump,” that was so noticeable they paused the movie they were watching, Bokosky said.
Salkin called 911 about 7:30 p.m. When officers arrived they found shattered pieces of ceramic in a bag on the counter with smashed up sunglasses, Bokosky said.
Police also found testosterone supplements in the defendant’s safe with the victim’s blood on the packages, Bokosky said.
A surgeon who operated on the victim to relieve skull pressure on her swollen brain testified along with another expert, Bokosky said.
One expert was called to testify that the injuries couldn’t have come from a fall, Bokosky said.
“These injuries were caused by external force,” she said.
The prosecutor said the wounds were “consistent with a high-speed crash.”
Salkin’s attorney, Ricardo Nicol, told jurors, “What’s at issue in this case is whether the defendant had any intent to kill. … That’s what it’s going to boil down to. … You’ll have to determine his intent when this terrible tragedy happened.”
The couple had typical ups and downs, but no violent conflicts, Nicol said.
When the two went out to dine that night she was angered by her boyfriend taking so many business calls, Nicol said.
“Ms. Flores was not happy about that — understandably so,” Nicol said. “They started bickering.”
Flores had also been drinking and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit for driving, Nicol said.
When Salkin left Flores it was because he wanted to go home and she wanted to stay, Nicol said.
When Salkin got home Flores was “furious” about how she was being treated and the phone call to her aunt, Nicol said.
“She started throwing things at him,” Nicol said, explaining why the ceramics were shattered.
Salkin “turned his back to her” to leave, but “she jumped on his back and started to hit him,” Nicol said.
Salkin lost his balance and the victim slammed against a granite kitchen counter, Nicol said.
The defense had its own expert who earlier concluded there’s “no way of knowing” how the victim sustained the injuries, Nicol said.
The defendant had blood on his hands as he attempted to stanch her bleeding while calling 911 “immediately,” Nicol said.
Salkin quickly stashed the testosterone supplements in the safe because they were likely not legal and he did not want to get in trouble with the officers coming over, Nicol said.
The defendant lied to investigators, saying his girlfriend jumped on his back in a moment of “exuberance” over a successful business deal and then fell, Nicol said. But he initially misled investigators because “he didn’t want to get her in trouble,” the defense attorney said.
“This was a combination of self-defense and an accident,” Nicol said.
Salkin was convicted of attacking Flores on Feb. 6, 2019, but in January 2020 he was granted a new trial based on medical records of the victim that were withheld from defense attorneys.
While out on bail he was accused of domestic violence against then- girlfriend Shayna Schroeder, Bokosky said in court papers.
On July 23, 2021, Salkin was with another new girlfriend, Zohra Abassi, in Woodland Hills when he was accused of attacking a former boyfriend, according to court records.
The domestic violence case involving Schroeder was dismissed by prosecutors in February 2023 and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors declined to file charges in the July 2021 incident.
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