GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Paula Creswell decided to send young Jamarion Lawhorn a card after seeing his story on the news.
"There was something in his eyes that I saw that I thought....he needs help...and one day he wrote me a letter back and said, 'I'd like to meet you,'" says Creswell.
In August of 2014, when Lawhorn was just 12, he fatally stabbed 9-year-old Connor Verkerke on a Kentwood playground. Lawhorn is Kent County's youngest convicted murderer, but Crewell says he has learned from his past mistakes.
"Jamarion is very sorry for that and he has to live with that in his mind for the rest of his life," says Creswell.
On Monday, a Kent County Judge released a now 18-year-old Lawhorn to his new adopted family, the Creswells. Paula Creswell has experience working with inmates who have been rehabilitated and she says Jamarion will remain under court supervision for the next two years as he reintegrates in society.
"I firmly believe everyone deserves a second chance and Jamarion is no different," says Creswell.
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