The mother of Jamarion Lawhorn, Kent County’s youngest convicted killer, quietly left the Kent County Jail after serving time for child abuse, making way for the boy’s stepfather to begin his sentence on Monday.
Bernard Harrold, 39, checked into the Kent County Jail today to begin serving time for third-degree child abuse for beating Jamarion with a belt and extension cord.
Anita Lawhorn, 39, was discharged from jail on Feb. 22.
The delayed sentence was handed down in November to allow Harrold to remain with the couple’s children while Anita Lawhorn served her time.
Harrold in July pleaded guilty to beating Jamarion with a belt and an electrical cord. He apologized during a November sentencing hearing. “I’d like to say I take full responsibility for my actions; I’m sorry that I did it.’’
Kent County Circuit Court Judge Paul Sullivan at the time said he does not know if the beatings Jamarion suffered at the hands of Lawhorn and Harrold, her live-in boyfriend, spurred Jamarion to kill, but suggested it may have been a factor.
“I honestly don’t know to what extent your actions caused, or contributed at all,’’ the judge said earlier. “I suspect just because of Jamrion’s remarks and what he did at the time, there was a causal connection in some way.’’
What he did on Aug. 4, 2014 devastated two families and garnered national headlines. Jamarion, then 12, hid a kitchen knife in the sand at a playground at Pinewood Village mobile home park in Kentwood. Moments after 9-year-old Connor Verkerke fell off a slide, Lawhorn stabbed him three times in the back and once in the arm.
A Kent County jury in September found Jamarion Lawhorn guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced Nov. 4 to live in a juvenile home until a determination is made regarding a potential adult sentence when he turns 21. He was sent to the Muskegon River Youth Home in Evart, about 70 miles north of Grand Rapids.
Sullivan in late November ordered Anita Lawhorn and Harrold to serve a year in the Kent County Jail and be placed on probation for five years.
But the sentence was unique in one regard – Lawhorn, 39, was to initially serve 150 days of the sentence and be released. Two weeks later, it would be Harrold’s turn to serve a five-month term. That way, one of the parents will be able to care for the three children still at home.
Lawhorn was credited with time already served, allowing for her release two weeks ago. The remainder of their sentences – or 215 days – will come at the end of probation. If both finish out the five years without probation violations, the remainder of their jail sentence could be suspended.
The couple’s three children were removed from home after Jamarion’s arrest, but have since returned under the watchful eye of Child Protective Services. At an August status hearing, Denenfeld commended the couple for making "outstanding progress'' in providing a nurturing household and staying off drugs.
The trio have been under Harrold’s care after Sullivan revoked Lawhorn’s bond on Oct. 21 for violating conditions of her bond while awaiting sentencing on Nov. 24. She tested positive for alcohol use on three separate occasions.
“Prison simply makes no logical sense for either of these two defendants,’’ the judge said in November. “No jail time is also unrealistic. Whatever sentence I hand down, people will be unhappy.’’