John Jefferson
Chance Crawford (GoFundMe)
A 41-year-old California barber allegedly became so enraged after the 6-year-old child he was babysitting peed his pants at the park that he tortured and beat the boy to death with a “large piece of raw lumber.”
Ernest Lamar Love is facing murder, torture and child abuse charges in the death of Chance Crawford in Placentia, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles. According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Chance’s mother dropped him off at Love’s barbershop around 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 before her overnight shift as a nurse’s assistant at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
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About seven hours later, Love reportedly brought a beaten and barely-breathing Chance to Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“Doctors at CHOC discovered that much of Chance’s flesh was missing from his buttocks, leaving raw, gaping wounds, along with subdural hematoma, extreme brain swelling, and other injuries consistent with violent shaking,” prosecutors said in a press release.
Chance was in critical condition at the hospital before dying on Tuesday.
Video surveillance captured the alleged beating. It showed Love walking into the barbershop carrying a “large piece of raw lumber with a reluctant Chance following behind him,” according to prosecutors.
“Love is accused of beating the first grader with the piece of lumber, then pouring hydrogen peroxide on the open wounds” before forcing the boy to do push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks, the press release said.
He then drove Chance to the hospital emergency room instead of calling 911 after the boy collapsed. Love faces 32 years to life in prison if convicted. He’s at the Orange County Jail without bond.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement prosecutors would ensure justice is done for Chance.
“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,” he 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.”
Two GoFundMe‘s started by friends and family describe Chance as a “sweet little boy, with a beautiful smile” who loved watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sesame Street.
“He was smart, inquisitive, and a great artist. Chance started drawing pictures of his favorite character Mickey Mouse and they looked like they came from a Disney movie,” the fundraiser said. “He was a gifted child and had so much life to live. We’re devastated by the loss of our beautiful, sweet, kind, bright and shining star. This pain is horrible and our family will never recover from the loss. A sweet little boy was taken from us too soon.”
Love has pleaded not guilty.
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