Current:Home > My'Words do not exist': Babysitter charged in torture death of 6-year-old California boy -GlobalTrade
'Words do not exist': Babysitter charged in torture death of 6-year-old California boy
View
Date:2025-04-19 17:55:53
A Southern California barber accused of fatally beating a 6-year-old child whose mother he met at church has been charged with torture and murder in connection to the boy's brutal slaying, officials said.
Ernest Lamar Love was babysitting the boy when he attacked him with piece of lumber after the first-grade boy peed his pants at a local park, according to the the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
The boy's mother was working the night shift as a nurse’s assistant at a hospital while prosecutors say Love drove the critically injured boy to Children’s Hospital of Orange County on Aug. 30.
The boy, 6-year-old Chance Crawford died Tuesday afternoon.
“While his new classmates were celebrating the end of the first week of first grade, Chance’s seat in his classroom was empty as he fought for his life in a hospital bed,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, whose office is handling the murder case, said. “Words do not exist to describe the absolute terror this little boy was forced to endure – all at the hands of someone who was supposed to be protecting him, not torturing him to death."
Ernest Love pleads not guilty, faces life in prison if convicted
Love, 41, is charged with one count of murder, one count of torture, and one count of child abuse causing death.
Prosecutors said Love pleaded not guilty to all three felony charges. Under California law, if he is convicted of all three charges he faces up to life in prison.
He was jailed without bond Friday and an attorney of record for him was not listed in online.
Football player dies days after tackle:Player pronounced dead after brain injury
Georgia school shooting update:Father of suspect charged with murder, child cruelty
'The world was blessed to have experienced you'
"I lost a son yesterday," Chance's father, Vance Crawford posted on Facebook. "The anger I feel is unmatched … daddy loves you (RIP)."
"The epitome of beautiful," Chance's aunt Destiny Crawford, wrote on her Facebook page. "The world was blessed to have experienced you. Rest easy beloved nephew."
According to an online fundraiser created by Chance's mother, Charlyn Saffore, the 6-year-old was "a light to the world he lived in. He was intelligent, lively, sharp, witty ... If you knew him, you would have loved him like his entire community did."
"Any support you may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated. Please keep my family and me in your prayers," Saffore wrote. As of Friday, more than 200 people had donated and raised just over $18,000 of a $35,000 goal to help the family with funeral expenses.
USA TODAY has reached out to Saffore who, according to KTLA-TV met Love at church.
What happened to 6-year-old Chance Crawford?
At about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, after Chance finished his third day of first grade, the boy was dropped off to be babysat at Love’s barbershop in the city of Placentia, just northeast of Anaheim, prosecutors said.
About 1:30 the next morning, Love reportedly carried Chance into the emergency room, "unconscious and struggling to breathe."
Doctors discovered most of the boy's flesh missing from his buttocks, leaving "raw, gaping wounds, along with subdural hematoma, extreme brain swelling, and other injuries consistent with violent shaking."
At the same time, Chance reportedly was healing from a fractured shoulder blade.
Less than three hours before visiting the hospital, prosecutors say, video surveillance captured Love walk into his barber shop "with a large piece of raw lumber with a reluctant Chance following behind him."
A preliminary investigation found Love allegedly the beat the boy with the piece of lumber, "poured hydrogen peroxide on the open wounds then forced the boy to doing push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks," prosecutors wrote.
When the boy collapsed, Love reportedly drove the boy to the emergency room instead of calling 911.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
veryGood! (549)
Related
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- How to help or donate in response to the deadly wildfire in Maui
- Mastering the Art of Capital Allocation with the Market Whisperer, Kenny Anderson
- Inflation rose 3.2% in July, marking the first increase after a year of falling prices
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Hawaii's historic former capital Lahaina has been devastated by wildfires and its famous banyan tree has been burned
- Maui fires death toll rises to at least 53, hundreds forced to evacuate; Biden approves disaster declaration
- Amid record heat, Spain sees goats as a solution to wildfires
- All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
- Social Security COLA 2024 estimate didn't increase with CPI report. Seniors still struggle.
Ranking
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Grand jury indicts teen suspect on hate crime charge in O'Shae Sibley's Brooklyn stabbing death
- Don't call it 'vegan' and other tips from hospitals to get people to eat less meat
- Biden asks Congress for more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid for Ukraine
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Sweden stakes claim as Women’s World Cup favorite by stopping Japan 2-1 in quarterfinals
- Kylie Jenner Is Rising and Shining in Bikini Beach Photos While Celebrating 26th Birthday
- Trumpetfish: The fish that conceal themselves to hunt
Recommendation
The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
Target recall: 2.2 million Threshold candles recalled; at least 1 injured
Connecticut school district lost more than $6 million in cyber attack, so far gotten about half back
Slain Ecuador candidate fearlessly took on drug cartels and corruption
Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
US probing Virginia fatal crash involving Tesla suspected of running on automated driving system
Suspended NASCAR Cup driver Noah Gragson asks for release from Legacy Motor Club
Wisconsin judge allows civil case against fake Trump electors to proceed