Boy, 12, Stabs Boy, 9, on Playground: Michigan Child to Be Tried as an Adult in Murder Case
A boy, 12, stabbed a boy, 9, to death on a playground in Kentwood, Michigan Monday, and after being charged with murder, he will be tried in court as an adult. He will be sentenced as a juvenile but once he turns 21, he will become eligible for adult time behind bars.
The 12-year-old boy who stabbed 9-year-old Michael Conner Verkerke had been playing on the playground when the vicious attack took place. The youth pulled a knife on Verkerke and stabbed him in the back, eyewitnesses told police.
We were sitting right on our deck," Barb Poelman, a neighbor, told the Associated Press. "We heard the kids run across the front ... screaming. He (Michael) ran with the kids that were with him."
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She said that at first she thought the 12-year-old suspect, Verkerke and the other children were "just playing," but after the 9-year-old fell on the porch bleeding, she realized that he was seriously injured.
"[Michael's mother] was screaming, 'Where is the ambulance?' while her boy was laying on the porch bleeding," Poelman explained. The 9-year-old died shortly afterwards at a local hospital.
The suspect used nearby Glen Stacy's phone to dial 911 and turn himself in, even shouting at police to come arrest him for the gruesome crime.
"Hello, I'm right here. You're going the wrong way," Stacy recalled the boy yelling to police officers when they arrived on the scene.
Police arrested the boy, placed him in Kent County Juvenile Detention Center and charged him with murder. He will be treated as an adult in the juvenile court system, and if he is convicted he will face adult sentencing at the age of 21, Kent County chief assistant prosecutor Chris Becker told AP.
The 12-year-old pleaded not guilty to the murder charge in court Tuesday, and his lawyer said that he needs to undergo a mental evaluation to see if he is fit to stand trial. The boy's preliminary court date is set for Aug. 13.
