Kent Co. Jury Finds 13-year-old Boy Guilty of First-Degree Murder

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WHTC) – A Kent County Circuit Court Jury returned a guilty verdict for first-degree murder against Jamarion Lawhorn. He was 12 years old when he stabbed nine-year-old Connor Verkerke to death in a Kentwood playground more than a year ago, and now at age 13, Lawhorn becomes the youngest convicted murder in West Michigan history. He remains in the Kent County Juvenile Detention facility pending a sentencing date, but per a federal court ruling, Lawhorn can’t get mandatory life in prison.