Linden Beaton, center, stands with his lawyers, Sam Roberts, left, and Gillian Kress at his trial in state Supreme Court, St. George. (Steve White for the Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Desperate to find his mother, Johynita Jordan, who went missing three days earlier, Shawn Sayers scoured Sobel Court Park in Clifton on Jan. 22, 2019, looking for any trace of her.

As documented on a cell-phone video, Sayers walked back and forth through the small park until he found several items of clothing strewn among the leaves and detritus on the ground: A hoodie with the word “Love” written across the front, a bra, and boots.

Sayers, 52, began to weep on the witness stand on Thursday at Linden Beaton’s murder trial as he viewed photos of the clothing and recounted a conversation he had with his niece, Ashley Cornelius, to whom he had sent an image of the hoodie.

“Ashley said, ‘Yes, that’s nanny’s shirt,’” Sayers said.

Cornelius, who lived with the victim and is her granddaughter, had also been emotional when she previously took the stand on Wednesday.

She cried when viewing two photos of Jordan — one which depicts the victim in the lobby of her apartment building wearing what appears to be the clothing found in the park, and the other, which shows her corpse after it was discovered on Jan. 27, 2019, in an abandoned Stapleton residence.

A medical examiner determined Jordan died from compression of the neck, said prosecutors.

Justice Mario F. Mattei told jurors, who also saw the photos and video, they must not let sympathy factor into their view of the evidence.

Prosecutors allege Beaton, 35, followed Jordan, 69, during the early morning hours of Jan. 19, 2019, then raped, kidnapped and murdered her.

The defense contends the victim died of a methadone overdose.

Jordan had drug-addiction issues in her past and was on long-term methadone maintenance, according to statements at trial.

Beaton did not kidnap, rape or kill Jordan, defense attorney Sam Roberts contended in his opening argument on Wednesday. However, the two did have consensual sex, he said.

Cornelius and Sayers were the first two witnesses to testify as prosecutors rolled out their case.

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorneys Lisa Davis and Victoria Levin, Cornelius and Sayers provided jurors an overview of the events, which started with Jordan’s disappearance and ended with the gruesome discovery of her body eight days later.

Prosecutors allege Linden Beaton kidnapped, raped and murdered Johynita Jordan, seen in this undated family photo, in January 2019.

Cornelius said she last saw her grandmother at around 10 p.m. on Jan. 18 in their apartment before she went to bed.

She said she awoke at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, to discover her grandmother was not home.

She said Jordan typically had an appointment at a hair salon at 8 a.m. on Saturdays.

Cornelius said she called Jordan’s cell phone then, as well as “over 20 times” throughout the day, but never received an answer.

The witness said she became concerned when Jordan did not appear for a 6 p.m. birthday party for Sayers’ daughter.

Under cross-examination by Gillian Kress, another lawyer for Beaton, Cornelius said she told Sayers at the party, “I think she’s gone missing.”

However, Cornelius said she did not call police at that point.

The witness said she assumed she’d find her grandmother at their apartment in Clifton when she returned home from the party.

But Jordan was not there when Cornelius arrived home at 10:15 p.m., and she called police.

When there were no developments over the next few days, she said Sayers and other family members went to Sobel Court Park on Jan. 22 to search for Jordan.

The witness said she briefly joined them, then left to eat lunch and go to a medical appointment.

Afterward, Sayers texted her a photo of the “Love” hoodie, which she identified as belonging to her grandmother.

Police found Jordan’s body five days later in an abandoned home on Van Duzer Street in Stapleton.

Cornelius said she recognized Beaton from the neighborhood but did not think her grandmother knew him. She said she never heard Jordan mention his name.

The victim, she said, never had sexual relations with Beaton.

The defense sought to undermine Cornelius’ credibility by pointing to some inconsistencies in her testimony, compared to her prior statements to authorities.

Linden Beaton, left, is seen conferring with Gillian Kress, one of his lawyers at his murder and rape trial on June 8, 2022 in state Supreme Court, St. George. (Steve White for the Staten Island Advance)

In particular, the witness testified that Jordan would leave the apartment around 4 a.m. three days a week and travel to a clinic in Prince’s Bay, where she would receive methadone.

Her grandmother usually would return home by 9 a.m., Cornelius testified.

However, after listening to a recorded 911 call, she acknowledged that she had told officials Jordan was usually back by noon.

Sayers said he last saw his mother in December 2018.

It was at an “ugly sweater” Christmas party, and he and his daughter sang a song by the R&B group the Temptations to her, he said.

Sayers said he would see Jordan “occasionally,” mainly at family functions and parties.

The witness said it was unusual for his mother not to show up at his daughter’s birthday party, and the next day he began calling around trying to locate her.

Taking matters into his own hands, Sayers said he drove around the area surrounding the victim’s apartment and searched nearby Sobel Court Park on Jan. 22.

He was told that his mother was walking in the direction of the park when she left her building three days earlier.

Sayers said he located the articles of her clothing near a fence which abutted some homes. It wasn’t far from the street, he said.

During his cross-examination of the witness, Roberts, the defense lawyer, sought to highlight the victim’s drug use, and also pointed to discrepancies between parts of Sayers’ testimony and his prior statements to police.

Sayers, after reviewing documents, confirmed that he told police that Jordan had a heroin addiction for many years.

The witness also affirmed that he told detectives in those documents that his mother had been asked to move out of a relative’s Port Richmond home several years before her death due to her drug addiction.

Sayers also testified that he had given his mother some money over the years when she asked for it. But he vehemently denied that she used the cash to buy drugs.

The trial resumes Monday in state Supreme Court, St. George.

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