A California barber turned out to be a monstrous babysitter after allegedly torturing and murdering a 6-year-old boy he was babysitting after meeting his mother at church.
Ernest Lamar Love, 41, is accused of beating young Chance Crawford to death with a piece of wood after the boy “urinated in his pants at a local park,” according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Chance’s mother, Charlyn Saffore, dropped the boy off at Love’s hair salon in Placentia around 6:30 p.m. so she could go to work the night shift at St. Joseph Hospital.
He met Love through church and considered him a “trusted friend,” according to a publication She did it on Instagram before the child’s death.
However, the “trusted friend” repeatedly hit 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,” according to prosecutors.
The man who was babysitting 6-year-old Chance Crawford beat the boy to death with a piece of wood, prosecutors say
Ernest Lamar Love, 41, has been charged with murder and torture in connection with the heinous crime. Months before the alleged beating, Love had been flaunting his barber license on social media.
Security cameras captured Love entering his own barbershop about three hours before the senseless assault holding the piece of wood “with a reluctant Chance following him,” according to the district attorney.
Chance eventually collapsed and prosecutors say Love took the boy, who was “unconscious and struggling to breathe,” to the CHOC Hospital emergency room around 1:30 a.m.
It was then that doctors witnessed Chance’s severe injuries.
‘CHOC doctors discovered that Chance was missing much of the flesh from his buttocks, leaving him with raw, open wounds, as well as a subdural hematoma, extreme brain swelling and other injuries consistent with violent shaking.
“The child also had a healing fracture to his shoulder blade,” according to the charging document, prompting some family members on social media to question whether there had been previous abuse.
Chance fought bravely for his life in the hospital but eventually died from his injuries on Tuesday afternoon.
I had only started first grade for three days.
Vance Crawford, Chance’s father, is pictured with him. Crawford considers 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 terrifying experience she went through watching Chance die.
Vance Crawford, the boy’s father, posted a black-and-white version of the image of his son wearing a crown.
“Yesterday I lost a son, the rage I feel is unmatched… but I will get justice,” he wrote. “Rest in peace son, daddy loves you.”
Crawford described KTLA the terrible experience she had to go through when she saw Chance die.
“To see my son like that and in the condition he was in, in critical condition from the moment he was brought in, it’s just devastating,” Crawford said. “He didn’t even die peacefully. He died tragically and it’s not fair.”
Crawford considers Love “a monster.”
“He deserves what’s coming to him. I’m going to let God take care of him.”
Chance’s mother, Charlyn Saffore, also paid tribute to her son, describing him as “a light to the world he lived in.”
Love is pictured holding his barber certificate in May. At the time, he said he was getting better and added that he does everything for his children.
Months later, Lamar posted a photo of himself smiling while holding his wooden barber badge.
Saffore has set up a GoFundMe account to pay for funeral expenses. So far, people have donated $15,263 toward her $20,000 goal.
“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we have to share the unexpected passing of my beloved son, Chance. He died… at the hands of someone I believed to be a trusted friend,” she wrote on Instagram.
‘Chance was a much loved son, grandson and a light to the world he lived in. He was only 6 years old and was smart, lively, sharp, witty and had a smile that would light up an entire room.
“If you knew him, you would have loved him like his entire community did,” Saffore wrote on Instagram.
Saffore has set up a GoFundMe account to pay for funeral expenses. So far, people have donated $15,263 toward her $20,000 goal.
KTLA reported that Saffore met Love at Amazing Church in Lake Elsinore.
A church leader said Love was suspended from the church for having inappropriate relationships with female parishioners.
An anonymous man who used to attend the church described Love as a womanizer with anger issues.
“Every few months, a different woman would show up at the church,” said one former church member.
Love has been described as someone with an anger problem who dated many women from his former church.
A former parishioner told KTLA he never saw Love take out his anger on the children.
Love has pleaded not guilty to all four charges, two of which include murder and torture. He currently faces a sentence of 32 years to life in prison, plus five years if convicted on all charges.
She continued: ‘He was quite stern… He would get angry about certain things, you could tell, but I never saw him take it out on the kids.’
Love’s Facebook is filled with photos of him flaunting his newly obtained cosmetology and barbering license.
It seems that he got his license in May.
In a post holding up his certificate, Love revealed in the caption that he is a father.
“It’s hard to take time and improve when you’re a real parent, because my kids come before me,” he wrote.
In mid-July, he posted another photo of himself dressed in Chicago Bulls merchandise and holding his official wooden plaque.
Love has pleaded not guilty to all four charges, including murder, torture, assaulting a child with force likely to produce serious bodily injury resulting in death, and causing injury resulting in paralysis or death.
He was arraigned Wednesday morning and is being held without bail.
Love faces a maximum sentence of 32 years to life in prison plus five years if convicted on all charges.