Boy, 12, Charged in Fatal Playground Stabbing Had History of Abuse: Report

Troubling details are emerging about the home life on Jamarion Lawhorn, 12, charged as an adult in the playground stabbing death of Connor Verkerke, 9, last month. (Screenshot: WZZM-TV video)

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A 12-year-old western Michigan boy charged as adult with murder in a horrific playground stabbing has been repeatedly abused and reportedly stabbed 9-year-old Connor Verkerke as part of a larger plan that would end his own life.

Details about the home life of Jamarion Lawhorn, 12, emerging in court records and interviews with neighbors paint a disturbing picture of the events leading up to the stabbing on the playground at a Kentwood mobile home park, WZZM-TV reports.

Connor died of multiple stab wounds at a nearby hospital after his brother helped him to their home near the playground. At the same time, Jamarion went to a nearby home and asked to use a phone so he could turn himself into police.

The boy’s mother and stepfather threatened a “whoopin’ ” on a daily basis, a Child Protective Services worker wrote in court documents.

Jamarion said he thought that if he killed someone else, he would be sentenced to die in an electric chair, WZZM said, citing court documents.

The Michigan Department of Human Services has begun proceedings to terminate the parental rights of of Jamarion’s mother and stepfather, who allegedly beat the boy to the extent that his body was covered with bruises, MLive/The Grand Rapids Press reports.

Jamarion and three other children in the care of Anita Lawhorn and Bernard Harrold lived in “deplorable” living conditions. The DHS Child Protective Services unit had said previously that child abuse charges against the couple were substantiated last year.

Anita Lawhorn had surrendered parental rights to two daughters, ages 2 and 3, in Monroe County, NY, in 1996, after they were removed for “severe physical abuse,” according to court documents.

The abuse detailed in New York included unexplained fractures sustained by the younger girl, and what appeared to be cigarette burns on the older girl’s chest.

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• As details emerge in this troubling case, there is evidence that the boy charged in the murder was a victim of serious abuse? What’s the right resolution? What’s the best way to ensure that all children live in safe, healthy surroundings?

Authorities in New York had ordered mental health counseling for Jamarion for “his significant behavioral concerns,” but Anita Lawhorn and the boy’s father, Lonnell Washington Sr., “failed to follow through with ensuring Jamarion received those services,” Michigan DHS worker Mandy Akers wrote in documents filed with the court.

Washington lives in Geneva, NY.

Jamarion Lawhorn’s siblings, a 14-year-old brother and two sisters, ages 2 and 7, have been removed from the home and are staying with a relative.

Authorities documented Jamarion’s injuries during intake procedures at the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center.

Since June, the boy’s mother and stepfather threatened to give Jamarion “a ‘whoopin’ on a daily basis” despite previous warnings to change their parenting practices, a Child Protective Services worker wrote in court documents.

When authorities searched the boy’s home at 5600 Jefferson Ave. SE in Kentwood, they documented “unsafe” and “deplorable” living conditions, and seized drug paraphernalia that tested positive for cocaine. Utility service had been shut off at the home, beds in the home had neither sheets nor bedding, and there was minimal food in the home, the search warrant return showed.

The family was also about to be evicted, according to court documents. Anita Lawhorn had reportedly been evicted from three other homes from 2006 to 2010.

Both Lawhorn and Harrold claim they have mental health issues, but have not been taking prescribed medications, according to court records. Both reportedly tested positive for cocaine use.

A trial on the termination of parental rights is scheduled to begin Oct. 2.

Authorities are waiting for the results of a psychiatric examination before moving forward on the criminal charges filed against the 12-year-old.