Days after the 6-year-old child began first grade, his babysitter is accused of beating him to death with a piece of lumber. The boy’s family in California is in grief.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office states that Ernest Lamar Love, 41, is accused of beating 6-year-old Chance Crawford to death while watching him, and he is charged with murder, torture, and child abuse causing death. He entered a not guilty plea.
“Why would this happen to him? He didn’t get to live the rest of life,” Chance’s father, Vance Crawford stated. “He’s 6 years old. I wanted to see my son graduate.”
Love, a barber, was allegedly watching Chance last Thursday while Chance’s mother worked the night shift at the hospital as a nurse’s assistant.
He is charged with beating the six-year-old with a piece of lumber, forcing him to perform push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks, and dousing his open wounds with hydrogen peroxide.
“Words do not exist to describe the absolute terror this little boy was forced to endure – all at the hands of someone who was supposed to be protecting him, not torturing him to death,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated.
At around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, Love is said to have brought an unconscious Chance into the emergency department of a children’s hospital. Prosecutors claim that the 6-year-old had bleeding associated with intense shaking, brain swelling, and raw wounds from which most of the flesh was removed from his buttocks.
Chance passed away on Tuesday afternoon due to his wounds.
“Seeing my son like that, in critical condition from the time he was brought in, it’s just devastating,” Crawford stated to KTLA. “He didn’t even die peacefully. He died a tragic death, and it’s not fair.”
Prosecutors claim that Love spanked Chance, a young child who had just begun first grade, after the youngster threw up in the park.
Read Also:Â Violent Assault on 16-Year-Old Transgender Boy by Group of Teens in Massachusetts
It seems that Chance’s mother ran across the suspect at church. Parents are advised by the 6-year-old’s family to constantly be mindful of who is monitoring their kids.
Love is being held without being able to post bail. Prosecutors said that if found guilty of all charges, he may receive a maximum sentence of 32 years to life plus five years.
To aid with Chance’s burial expenses, the family has established a GoFundMe page.
