Lambing gets 30-60 years in prison
Keith Jordan Lambing was sentenced Monday to 30 to 60 years in prison for the 2017 murder of 4-year-old Bentley Thomas Miller.
Lambing, 22, pleaded guilty Dec. 30 to murder in the third degree, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child, all felonies. The guilty verdict was reached as part of a plea deal between prosecutors and Lambing's lawyer, public defender Charles Nedz, after the defense attempted to first change the trial's location and later petitioned the court to consider an outside jury.
Members of the defendant's and victim's families attended Monday's sentencing, with extra security measures put into place to make sure court wasn't disrupted.
Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCune accepted the plea deal and sentenced Lambing after several relatives of Bentley, including the child's father, spoke in court.
Dressed in a standard-issue orange jumpsuit, Lambing kept his head down while family members of Bentley addressed the court. He chose not to respond when given the chance.
He was not related to Bentley and was dating the child's mother, Mackenzie Paige Peters, at the time of the murder.
“Our hearts began to ache beyond repair. Every day became harder. Sleeping is unbelievably hard for us,” said the boy's aunt, Nash Peters. “I've cried enough to fill all the oceans and then some.”
On March 21, 2017, Bentley died after suffering internal injuries resulting in blood loss. Prosecutors at the time argued Lambing sexually assaulted the boy. But after Lambing accepted the prosecutors' plea deal, District Attorney Richard Goldinger revealed Lambing didn't rape Bentley. He declined further comment, saying only that Lambing caused Bentley's death.
“The one last question is why,” Nash Peters said. “Because of Jordan, we'll never be the loud, excited family at (Bentley's) basketball game.”
She then addressed Lambing directly.
“As for Jordan, there aren't enough years you can serve to make this better. Every breath you take is a waste of air.”
Victims often bring prepared statements to read to court, but Bentley's father, Tyler Miller, spoke unprompted.
“You took everything from me,” Miller said. “I just want you to know, an eye for eye; I hope something happens to you.”
Another family member, Sabrina Velez, remembered Bentley as “the coolest kid in this world.”
She continued, “It's been 1,021 days since we've seen his loving face. The last time we saw him, he was lying dead in the hospital. What you have done is unspeakable.”
Velez, Bentley's paternal grandmother, promised Lambing she would write to the state parole board every year to make sure he serves his maximum sentence. And, she said, if she dies before finishing her goal, her children and her children's children would continue the task.Lambing's grandmother, Toni Herold, who is the mother of Lambing's mother Kristen L. Herold, shared her thoughts with the court.“Bentley was the biggest part of our life. 'I love you grandma' he said to me three times before he died and laid his head on my lap,” Herold said.Toni Herold said Lambing loved Bentley and in the three years since the child's death he hasn't had a chance to properly mourn the loss because he has been in solitary confinement.At the time of his death, Bentley was staying with his mom, Mackenzie Peters, and Lambing at a Super 8 Motel, according to police. The injured child was taken by Lambing's mother, Kristen Herold, to a parking lot in the city where authorities were contacted. The boy later was declared dead at Butler Memorial Hospital.McCune told Toni Herold to take her seat after several minutes and turned his attention to Bentley's family. “There's a lot of things I could say, but it's not appropriate,” McCune said, adding he hoped the plea deal will “start the healing process ... And today that process could take a big step.”McCune said the plea arrangement was a good thing for the family because taking the case to trial would be a “scab continually torn” from the media exposure and the rehashing of the facts of the case.A member of Bentley's family stood up and pointed at Lambing as he was being led from the courtroom. “See you when you get out, you piece of (expletive),” the man yelled.Sheriff's deputies kept Lambing's family in the courtroom as the victim's family left. Lambing was transferred to state prison almost immediately after the sentence, according to his lawyers.Mackenzie Peters and Kristen Herold also were charged in Bentley's death.Peters pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of children and was sentenced in May 2018 to three years probation. She pleaded guilty in March 2019 to four counts of reckless endangerment and two counts of hindering apprehension in an unrelated 2018 drive-by shooting case and was sentenced to 18 to 72 months in prison.Herold, who tried to hide her son as police searched for him following Bentley's death, pleaded guilty to felony hindering apprehension and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of children. She was sentenced in May 2018 to 1½ to five years in state prison and is being held in SCI Cambridge Springs, a minimum security facility.
