“I just stabbed someone. Come and get me. I want to die,” is allegedly what the 12-year-old told a 911 operator in a “calm” voice, according to Glenn Stacey, the man who lent the boy his phone to make the call, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Jamarion Lawhorn—whom The Root is naming because he is being charged as an adult—faces an “open murder” in the death of 9-year-old Michael Conner Verkeke, whom he allegedly stabbed multiple times in the back at a Kentwood, Mich., playground on Monday.
Jamarion pleaded not guilty on Tuesday afternoon before the county family court, the Free Press notes, and is currently being held without bond.
“This charging route was taken because if a juvenile is charged as a juvenile in juvenile court, the judge would have no option but to discharge at the age of 21,” Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Laura Clifton explained to the Free Press.
If the older boy is convicted on the charges, his case will be up for review every three months, at which point the judge could hand down an adult sentence, according to the Free Press. If, however, this is not done by the time the 12-year-old turns 21, then he will be dismissed from court supervision.
According to the news site, Conner, the name the 9-year-old went by, ran home screaming after being stabbed. He succumbed to his injuries later that same day.
When the authorities arrived on the scene of the incident, for which they still have no motive, they went to respond to Conner’s injuries, but Jamarion wanted them to come for him instead. “Hello. I’m right here. You’re going the wrong way,” he allegedly said, according to Stacey.
Read more at the Detroit Free Press.