Monster babysitter allegedly beat 6-year-old to death with piece of lumber after adorable first-grader wet himself at a local park
A California hairdresser turned out to be a great babysitter. He reportedly tortured and murdered a 6-year-old boy he was babysitting after meeting the boy’s mother at church.
Ernest Lamar Love, 41, is accused of beating young Chance Crawford to death with a piece of wood after the boy “wet his pants in a local park,” according to the Orange County Prosecutor’s Office.
Chance’s mother Charlyn Saffore took the boy to Love’s Barbershop in Placentia around 6:30 p.m. so she could work the night shift at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
She met Love through church and considered him a “trusted friend,” she said. a message which she made on Instagram before the child’s death.
However, prosecutors say the “trusted friend” repeatedly struck Chance with the piece of wood and then poured hydrogen peroxide on his wounds, before forcing the first-grader to do “push-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks.”
Prosecutors say the man who was babysitting Chance Crawford, 6, beat the boy to death with a piece of wood.
Ernest Lamar Love, 41, was charged with murder and torture in connection with the gruesome crime. Months before the alleged assault, Love flaunted his barber’s license on social media
Security cameras captured Love entering his own barbershop about three hours before the senseless attack, holding the piece of wood “as Chance reluctantly followed him,” the prosecutor said.
Chance eventually collapsed and prosecutors say Love took the boy, who was “unconscious and having difficulty breathing,” to the emergency room at CHOC Hospital around 1:30 a.m.
Then the doctors saw that Chance was seriously injured.
Doctors at CHOC discovered that much of Chance’s flesh on his buttocks was missing, leaving raw, gaping wounds, along with a subdural hematoma, extreme brain swelling and other injuries consistent with violent shaking.
“The boy also had a healing fracture to his shoulder blade,” the complaint said. Some family members took to social media to question whether there had been prior abuse.
Chance fought bravely for his life in the hospital, but eventually died of his injuries on Tuesday afternoon.
He had only been in first grade for three days.
Vance Crawford, Chance’s father, is pictured with him. Crawford calls Love “a monster.”
Chance is pictured on his fifth birthday with his mother Charlyn Saffore, left, and his grandmother, right
Crawford described to KTLA the horrific ordeal he went through as he watched Chance die
Vance Crawford, the child’s father, posted a black-and-white version of the photo of his son wearing a crown.
“I lost a son yesterday, the anger I feel is unparalleled… but I will get justice,” he wrote. “Rest in your heart son, daddy loves you.”
Crawford described it as KTLA the terrible ordeal he had to endure when he watched Chance die.
“Seeing my son like this and in the condition he was in, in critical condition from the moment he walked in, is just devastating,” Crawford said. “He didn’t even die peacefully. He died a tragic death and that’s not fair.”
Crawford considers Love to be ‘a monster.’
“He deserves what’s coming to him. I’ll let God deal with him.”
Charlyn Saffore, Chance’s mother, also remembered her son, describing him as “a light to the world he lived in.”
Love is pictured with his hairdressing diploma in May, saying he was improving himself and adding that he does everything for his children
Months later, Lamar posted a photo of himself beaming while holding his wooden barbershop plaque
Saffore has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses. So far, people have donated $15,263 toward her goal of $20,000
“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the unexpected passing of my beloved son, Chance…at the hands of someone I considered a trusted friend,” she wrote on Instagram.
‘Chance was a much loved son, grandson and a light in the world he lived in. At only 6 years old he was intelligent, lively, sharp, witty and had a smile that could light up a room.
“If you had known him, you would have loved him, as would his entire community,” Saffore wrote on Instagram.
Saffore has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses. So far, people have donated $15,263 toward her goal of $20,000.
KTLA reported that Saffore met Love at the Amazing Church in Lake Elsinore.
A church leader said Love was suspended from the church for inappropriate relationships with female parishioners.
An anonymous man who used to attend church described Love as a womanizer with an anger problem.
“Every few months a different woman would come to church,” one former church member said.
Love has been described as having an anger problem who has dated many women from his former church
A former churchgoer told KTLA he never saw Love take out his anger on children
Love has pleaded not guilty to the four charges against him, two of which include murder and torture. He currently faces 32 years to life in prison plus five years if convicted of all charges.
He continued: ‘He was quite strict… He got angry about certain things, you could see that, but I never saw him get angry with children.’
Love’s Facebook page is filled with photos of him showing off his newly acquired hairdressing license for beauty services.
It appears he didn’t get his license until May.
In a post holding up his certificate, Love revealed in the caption that he is a father.
“It’s hard to take the time and improve yourself when you’re a real parent because my children come before me,” he wrote.
In mid-July, he posted another photo of himself decked out in Chicago Bulls gear and holding his official wooden plaque.
Love has pleaded not guilty to four charges against him, including murder, torture, assault on a child with force likely to cause serious bodily injury resulting in death, and causing injury likely to cause paralysis or death.
He was arraigned on Wednesday morning and is being held without bail.
Love faces a maximum prison sentence of 32 years to life, plus five years, if convicted of all charges.