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Boy Charged in Fatal Stabbing of 9-Year-Old at Playground

Police say the older boy called police from a home near the playground at the mobile home park in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A 12-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a 9-year-old boy at a playground in western Michigan. The boy pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing in Grand Rapids on Tuesday, a day after the attack in nearby Kentwood. Witnesses say the 12-year-old went to a nearby home after the stabbing, called 911 and calmly turned himself in, then tried to flag down offices when they arrived. The victim, Michael Conner Verkerke, ran to his home and collapsed. Police say he later died at a hospital. Defense attorney Charles Boekeloo says he entered the plea for the boy and may seek a mental evaluation to determine if he's competent to stand trial. The boy was ordered held without bond in a juvenile detention center.

Witnesses told investigators that four children were playing when one of them, for unknown reasons, pulled a knife and stabbed the boy. The motive in the attack was still being investigated, said Kentwood Police Chief Thomas Hillen.

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— The Associated Press