GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Kent County’s youngest convicted killer will see his case go before the Court of Appeals next month.
At the same time, his mother is awaiting the outcome of her appeal after she was convicted of abusing him in the months before he killed a 9-year-old child.
Last month, Jamarion Lawhorn celebrated his 15th birthday in the Muskegon River Youth Home.
The boy he stabbed to death in August 2014, Connor Verkerke, would have turned 12.
Now, attorneys for the teen are asking the Court of Appeals to give him a new trial.
Jamarion has been locked up since he was 12, moments after he stabbed 9-year-old Connor with a knife he buried in the sand of a Kentwood playground. Jamarion told police in the hours after the stabbing that he was looking for someone to kill and the 9-year-old boy who asked him if he wanted to play just happened to be the most convenient victim.
It is that confession his defense attorneys say should not have been allowed in court when he was convicted of first-degree murder.
The attorneys say that a 12-year-old — especially one who suffered abuse at the hands of his parents — is not competent to waive his Miranda rights.
The attorneys say this is true even though his mother and stepfather were there. They had conflicts of interest since they would be facing charges of abuse against the boy for which they would be convicted.
The defense claims the evidence clearly shows Jamarion was mentally ill at the time of the crime. They say the judge should have set aside the murder conviction and ruled him guilty but mentally ill.
The attorneys also say that the fact that the jury could not consider manslaughter as an option — only consider first- or second-degree murder or not guilty — effectively left Jamarion without a viable defense.
Finally, the appeal claims a particularly graphic autopsy photo should not have been presented to the jury, saying it was unfairly prejudicial.
The Court of Appeals will hear the defense arguments on May 10.