INSIDE EDITION - A 20-year-old man has been arrested for the rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son after he was allegedly found hiding with his mother in an abandoned Pennsylvania home, authorities said.
Police responding to a call of an unconscious child found little Bentley Miller in 43-year-old Kristen Herold’s car in Butler last Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
The little boy was rushed to Butler Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Officials said Bentley died of severe blood loss due to forced sodomy, and suffered other injuries including a serious burn to his left hand that had gone untreated, as well as bruises to the head, torso and extremities that were consistent with being forcibly held from behind.
"I have never seen anything like it [in] 22 years as an attorney," District Attorney Richard Goldinger told WTAE-TV. "It’s horrific. It’s unimaginable that somebody could actually do this to any human being, let alone a 4-year-old.”
Herold reportedly told authorities she picked up the child at a Super 8 Motel on Pittsburgh Road, where her son Keith Lambing had been living for several weeks with the boy, his mother Mackenzie Peters and their shared 4-month old son.
Lambing allegedly called his mother Tuesday morning, saying something was medically wrong with Bentley, who he was watching while Peters was at work, police said.
Lambing was captured by authorities after he was found hiding with his mother in an abandoned home’s attic on the day after Bentley’s death, the Post-Gazette reported.
Prosecutors are reportedly considering seeking the death penalty against Lambing.