Current:Home > Scams'Words do not exist': Babysitter charged in torture death of 6-year-old California boy -FinTechWorld
'Words do not exist': Babysitter charged in torture death of 6-year-old California boy
View
Date:2025-04-12 17:14:20
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! (85662)
Related
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Pioneering L.A. program seeks to find and help homeless people with mental illness
- Shooter attack in Belgium drives an EU push to toughen border and deportation laws
- Feds OK natural gas pipeline expansion in Pacific Northwest over environmentalist protests
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Lacrosse at the Olympics gives Native Americans a chance to see their sport shine
- Maryland police investigating fatal shooting of a circuit court judge
- Johnny Bananas Unpeels What Makes a Great Reality TV Villain—and Why He Loves Being One
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Federal forecasters predict warm, wet US winter but less snow because of El Nino, climate change
Ranking
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Peckish neighbors cry fowl but mom seeks legal exception for emotional support chickens
- The Best Barbie Halloween Costume Ideas: Everything You Need to Look Plastic and Fantastic
- Northern Europe braces for gale-force winds, floods
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- Masha Amini, the Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody, is awarded EU human rights prize
- Burt Young, Sylvester Stallone's brother-in-law Paulie from 'Rocky' films, dies at 83
- Week 8 college football expert picks: Top 25 game predictions led by Ohio State-Penn State
Recommendation
Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
Slovakia’s president rejects appointment of climate change skeptic as environment minister
Electric truck maker Rivian says construction on first phase of Georgia factory will proceed in 2024
Elephant dies after dog ran around Saint Louis Zoo
New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
No need to avoid snoozing: Study shows hitting snooze for short period could have benefits
Brooke Burke Sets the Record Straight on Those Derek Hough Affair Comments
Mortgage rates climb to 8% for first time since 2000