Man charged with homicide and rape of boy

Police: 4-year-old died from ‘severe injuries’

The Butler County District Attorney’s office on Monday charged a 20-year-old man with homicide and rape in the death of his girlfriend's son.

Keith Jordan Lambing also faces multiple assault charges in the death of 4-year-old Bentley Miller.

Mr. Lambing was captured by authorities about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday after he was found hiding with his mother, Kristen Herold, in the attic of an abandoned home in Butler. He was being sought by authorities after Bentley died from “severe injuries” that District Attorney Rich Goldinger described as “horrible.”

Ms. Herold, 43, of Butler is charged with hindering apprehension and endangering the welfare of a child. They were being held in the Butler County Prison.

Police were called at 9:26 a.m. Tuesday with a report of an unconscious child in a car with Ms. Herold at a business on Renaissance Drive in Butler. They found the boy, the son of Mackenzie Peters, unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m. at Butler Memorial Hospital.

Authorities said Ms. Herold told police she had picked up the boy that morning at a Super 8 motel on Pittsburgh Road in Butler, where her son had been living for several weeks with Ms. Peters, Bentley and the couple’s 4-month-old son.

The infant was taken into custody by Butler County Children, Youth and Families.

Police said that in addition to injuries associated with sodomy, Bentley had suffered a severe burn to his left hand that had not been medically treated. Other injuries included bruises to the head, trunk and extremities that were consistent with the boy being forcibly held from behind.

According to court documents, Mr. Lambing has most recently lived in the North Hills, though he also had addresses in Butler and Slippery Rock.

On March 8, he was charged with felony counts of burglary, criminal trespass, and conspiracy as well as terroristic threats and harassment. He was held for court on March 20 when he failed to show

up for his preliminary hearing.

According to records at the Butler County Prison, Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer issued a bench warrant March 21 for Mr. Lambing's failure to appear at the preliminary hearing on the burglary charge. Also, he had a pending probation detainer that had been issued on a 2016 case for fleeing police.

Ms. Herold also faces a bench warrant issued March 8 for failing to make required payments on costs and fines associated with a 2013 retail theft.