KENTWOOD, Mich. (WZZM) - The mother of accused child killer Jamarion Lawhorn is now charged with felony child abuse for beating her son a year before the boy fatally stabbed a younger child at a Kentwood playground.
Anita Lawhorn, 38, was arrested this week on two counts of child abuse. A charge of child abuse 3rd degree alleges she knowingly or intentionally caused physical harm to her son. It is punishable by two years in prison or up to five years on probation.
A second charge of child abuse 4th degree alleges she struck the boy with a hand/belt and/or extension cord. It is a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail or up to five years on probation.
Identical charges also were filed against Jamarion's stepfather. Police say Barnard Harrold, 37, whipped the boy with an extension cord and punched him in the chest and stomach.
A preliminary hearing for the pair is scheduled for Oct. 23 in Kentwood District Court. They are free on bond.
Jamarion Lawhorn, 12, is accused of fatally stabbing 9-year-old Connor Verkerke moments after Connor fell off a slide. The incident occurred at Pinebrook Village mobile home park located southeast of 56th Street and Madison Avenue SE.
Within days of the Aug. 4th homicide, Kent County Child Protective Services workers removed Lawhorn's other three children, ages 14, 7 and 2, from her home, located a short distance from the playground.
Police described the Lawhorn home as unsafe and in "deplorable condition,'' court records show. There was little food to be found and clothes strewn about.
Anita Lawhorn's parenting skills were called into question three years before Jamarion was born. In 1999, she
voluntarily surrendered custody of two daughters in New York. One had four broken bones and the other had what investigators believed to be cigarette burns on her chest.
In May, 2013, Kent County Child Protective Services visited Lawhorn's home at 5600 Jefferson Ave. SE to investigate allegations of abuse.
"Jamrion told the caseworker that his stepfather whups (sic) him with an extension cord on his buttock, legs and back,'' Kentwood Detective Erin Kitchhka wrote in a probable cause affidavit. "Additionally, Bernard sometimes punches him in the chest and stomach.
"Jamarion also disclosed that his mother had recently whupped him with a belt on his buttock and the back of the legs,'' the affidavit continues. "At that time the caseworker observed marks on the back of Jamarion's legs.
"The caseworker interviewed both Anita and Bernard about the abuse and both admitted to whupping Jamarion,'' the probable cause affidavit concludes.
Jamarion told Kentwood police he took a knife to Pinebrook Village with the intent of stabbing someone, according to court documents. When Connor Verkerke fell from the slide, Jamarion came from behind and stabbed him multiple times in the back and in the arm, court records show.
