BUTLER, Pa. (AP) - Prosecutors in western Pennsylvania confirmed they will seek the death penalty against the man accused of raping and killing his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son.
Keith Lambing, 20, is facing several felony charges in the March 21 death of Bentley Miller.
Lambing’s mother, Kristen Herold, picked up Bentley that morning from a motel in Butler Township where Lambing and the child’s mother were staying. Herold pulled over and called 911 after the child stopped breathing, court records show. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital less than an hour later.
Herold was charged with endangerment and hindering apprehension after helping her son hide from police. Officers found Lambing and the child’s mother, Mackenzie Peters, hiding in an abandoned house the day after Bentley’s death.
District Attorney Richard Goldinger called the case “horrific” and said “it asks for the death penalty.” Cases involving aggravated circumstances, such as the death of a child, can be tried as death penalty cases under Pennsylvania law.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2ppknsP ) reports Lambing’s attorney believes his client is being assumed guilty before the trial.
“There are issues with this case,” Frank Walker said. “They don’t even have DNA evidence back.”
Lambing is being held in the county jail without bail. Peters was charged with endangering the welfare of a child for not treating burns Bentley suffered before his death. She also is in jail, unable to post bond.
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