Today in history.... and a little update I found
On August 4, 2014, Michael Connor Verkerke was spending time with his little brother at the playground near his home when he was attacked by an older boy. The 9-year-old Connor had never met the other boy, 12-year-old Jamarion Lawhorn, but Jamarion pulled a hidden knife out of the sand at the playground and stabbed Connor several times in the back. The victim’s brother helped him back to the porch of their home, where Connor told the 7-year-old “it’s not your fault” and “I’ll always love you” as he bled to death.
Jamarion was released from custody in early 2021, shortly before his 19th birthday.
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| Connor Verkerke's birthday was March 14. Many may not realize that Lawhorn shares the same birthday with his victim. |
Update I found....
How a murdered child’s grandmother befriended the killer’s family
By Linda Massarella
Published Feb. 23, 2017
Updated Feb. 23, 2017, 2:09 a.m. ET
https://nypost.com/2017/02/23/how-a-murdered-childs-grandmother-befriended-the-killers-family/
“I can’t change the past, but I have the ability to choose my response,” Nunemaker recently told The Post during an interview from her Grand Rapids classroom.
“We need more compassion in this world so that we can become all we are meant to be,’’ Nunemaker said. “Really, who needs more hate?”
Nunemaker said she felt pity for Jamarion from his first day on the witness stand.
His “voice sounded flat and devoid of emotion” as he rattled off how he stabbed Connor as he played on a slide, she said.
At trial, Jamarion had testified how he first buried his knife in the dirt at the local playground and then randomly lured Connor, his younger brother and a friend from their yard.
Jamarion described how he was soon stabbing Connor four times in the back. The dying child stumbled back home with the help of his horrified younger brother and friend.
Connor died on his front porch.
Jamarion called 911 after the killing to confess, and the tapes were played at his trial.
"When I realized that he died, that was like when everything settled in," Lawhorn said. "That's when I knew what I did and I knew at that point I messed up."
Lawhorn approached a neighbor, asking to borrow a phone to call 911.
The 12-year-old told the dispatcher, "I just stabbed someone," adding, "They're going to try to beat me so hurry up and come kill me or take me to jail or something. Exactly like you do in the movies... kill me in the electric chair. I don't care how I die, you pick the way."
He again confessed to the crime, saying, "Yes, I did it cause I'm fed up with life and want to die."
“I just stabbed someone,” Jamarion told the operator. “I’m fed up with life and want to die.
“Come get me and lock me up for life. Take me to juvenile for life. Kill me.”
Jamarion Lawhorn
Just hours after the killing, Nunemaker said, one of the only things she wanted to do was meet the mother of her grandson’s killer.
Nunemaker said she heard from neighbors that Anita Lawhorn had visited the scene of the crime, crying.
“She was walking around, saying, ‘I want to find the family of the boy who was killed, I want to say I’m sorry,’ ” Nunemaker said.
While Jamarion was awaiting trial, it surfaced that Anita, a former Geneva, NY, resident, had already given up custody of two daughters after child welfare opened a report on her. According to the 1996 report, her then-1-year-old daughter was found with multiple broken bones and the 3-year-old had cigarette burns on her chest.
Jamarion had also been abused, investigators said. Officials said he came from a “deplorable” home with no sheets or blankets on the beds and no utilities, with drug paraphernalia scattered in the bathroom. Harrold admitted to beating Jamarion with a belt, which left permanent scars on his back.
While Jamarion was convicted of murder, Lawhorn and Harrold received a year in prison for abusing him.
“When I found out about her, and that she was a drug addict, I thought, ‘Why am I helping? Did she do drugs with the money we gave her for groceries?’ But I didn’t allow myself to dwell on that.
“No matter what she did, I knew I needed to see her through eyes of compassion and love. Why does our human nature allow us to decide that only some people are worthy of love and compassion?” she said.
Since Anita was released from prison, Nunemaker has continued to give her money for food and act as chauffeur, particularly when the mom wants to visit Jamarion in his detention facility.
Connor Verkerke's birthday was March 14.
Many may not realize that Lawhorn shares the same birthday with his victim.
More: https://www.fox17online.com/news/in-depth/jamarions-journey
