A western Michigan mother whose son fatally stabbed another boy at a playground has been sentenced.
Kent County Judge Paul Sullivan sentenced the woman whose son stabbed a boy at a Kentwood playground to serve jail time and five years' probation. Her son's stepfather was given the same sentence.
The two were convicted in September.
The woman’s son was 12 when 9-year-old Michael Connor Verkerke was slain last year in Kentwood. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced earlier this month to a detention center with the possibility that he could be free when he turns 21.
The defense argued that years of abuse at home had ruined the boy's mental health and overwhelmed his decisions.
The Associated Press isn't naming the boy or relatives because of his age.