Jail sentence for mother of son who killed boy

GRAND RAPIDS (AP) - A western Michigan mother whose son fatally stabbed another boy at a playground has been sentenced to jail for child abuse. WOOD-TV reports that a judge on Tuesday also ordered the woman to serve five years' probation. Her son's stepfather was given the same sentence. They were convicted in September. Her son was 12 when 9-year-old Michael Connor Verkerke was slain last year in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids. 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. Published: Fri, Nov 27, 2015