‘Horrible’ death of boy results in guilty plea

A Butler County man accused of raping and killing his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son in March 2017 has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and two other charges.

Keith J. Lambing, 22, initially faced multiple counts of assault as well as homicide and rape after police accused him of sodomizing Bentley Miller on March 21, 2017, and causing internal injuries so severe that the boy bled to death. The child was covered in bruises — consistent, police said, with being held from behind. He was also burned, according to court documents.

Butler County Common Pleas Judge Timothy F. McCune on Monday accepted Lambing’s guilty plea to three of the 10 charges he initially faced in the child’s death — murder, aggravated assault of a victim less than 13 years old, and endangering the welfare of children. The other charges, which included rape and sexual intercourse, were dismissed, court documents show.

Although Butler prosecutors had previously discussed seeking the death penalty in the case, a discussion with Bentley’s mother and father determined the family did not wish to relive what happened, Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz said Tuesday.

“They wanted it to be over,” Ms.

Schultz said. “They didn’t want to relive this or the gruesome details in a trial. We offered the plea about a week ago, and I guess he [Lambing] decided at the last minute to take the deal.”

Butler County Public Defender Kevin Flaherty said sentencing has been put off until Monday at 9 a.m. before Judge McCune to ensure the child’s family could attend.

The plea deal carries a prison sentence of 30 to 60 years, officials said.

The child was found in critical condition just before 9:30 a.m. on March 21, 2017, with Lambing’s mother, Kristen Herold, at a business on Renaissance Drive in Butler. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Butler Memorial Hospital.

Authorities said Herold told police she had picked up the boy that day at a Super 8 motel in Butler Township, where her son had been living for several weeks with his then-girlfriend, Mackenzie Peters. The couple’s 4-monthold son, along with Bentley, also lived with them.

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

Police found Lambing hiding with his mother about 5:30 p.m. the next day in the attic of an abandoned home in Butler. He was arrested after Bentley died from “severe injuries” that prosecutors at the time described as “horrible.”

Lambing’s 43-year-old mother was charged and pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension and endangering the welfare of a child. She was given a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Peters, 24, was also charged and pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of children after failing to seek medical treatment for a severe burn to the boy’s hand and wrist two weeks before his death. She was placed on probation for a maximum of 18 months.

Authorities said Bentley was with Lambing at a motel when he suffered the burns, according to a police affidavit.