Clinton Twp. woman avoids prison for letting son freeze to death – Macomb Daily

Derricka Fleming speaks to reporters outside the Macomb County Courthouse in Mount Clemens on Wednesday. JAMESON COOK – DAILY MACOMB

A 25-year-old Clinton Township woman who let her 5-year-old son freeze outside in the winter has avoided jail time and will spend two years on probation.

Derricka Fleming received her sentence Wednesday from Macomb County District Judge Kathryn Viviano after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the January 2023 death of Lamar Mitchell.

“This is 100% the best sentence she could have received,” her lawyer Noel Erinjeri said after the verdict was announced in Mount Clemens court.

Erinjeri said he wanted to take the case to trial to seek an acquittal, but Fleming decided to appeal to avoid forcing Lamar’s father to endure a trial.

“It was a mistake,” he said. “If she could do it over again, she would.”

Fleming said after the hearing that she was “happy” with the verdict and blamed herself during the court hearing.

“I was irresponsible in my decisions, I was childish and naive,” she told the judge. “I had to lose the most important person in my life before I woke up. For this reason, I want to apologize to everyone here today that my decision hurt.

Derricka Fleming appeared with her attorney Noel Erinjeri on Wednesday before Judge Kathryn Viviano in Macomb County Circuit Court for Fleming’s manslaughter verdict in the death of her 5-year-old son.JAMESON COOK – THE MACOMB DAILY

She admitted that she was “often bitter” about her living situation and “selfish, even though I shouldn’t have been.”

Fleming looked up and quietly said a prayer when she learned she would receive probation and not go to prison.

Probation was opposed by Macomb Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Stager. The guideline sentencing range for the minimum term was 10 to 23 months behind bars. The maximum penalty for manslaughter is 15 years in prison.

“While we respect the court’s decision, our office firmly believes that solitary confinement was warranted in this tragic case,” District Attorney Peter Lucido said in a news release. “We asked for his imprisonment to emphasize the seriousness of the crime and to seek justice for the loss of this young life. However, the court decided to impose a suspended sentence instead.”

Stager noted that this was not a one-off incident, but part of a “pattern” of Fleming’s behavior of leaving his son alone in the ward.

The district court probation officer recommended a suspended sentence.

Viviano called the incident a “terrible tragedy” and added, “I’m struggling with this,” and wondered whether Fleming would have faced criminal charges if a similar incident had occurred at the single-family home.

“I simply – like the probation officer – do not understand how putting her in jail necessarily provides punishment,” the judge said.

She noted that Fleming worked, did not abuse drugs or alcohol, and took care of Lamar, who was said to be “happy and well taken care of.”

Fleming can apply to have his conviction overturned after five years.

Stephanie Stager at a previous court hearing in another case. PHOTO FROM THE MACOMB DAILY ARCHIVES

Lamar was found by a police officer around 5 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2023, in an area near the playground at the Clinton Cooperative Apartments, adjacent to the Saravilla Apartments on Harper Avenue, where he lived with his mother. Fleming called 911 after discovering Lamar was not home. Lamar was pronounced dead at McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens.

Fleming left the apartment and went to her boyfriend’s unit in the same building shortly before midnight. The video shows Lamar leaving the apartment and exiting through the exterior door of the apartment building at 12:41 a.m., meaning he was outside for almost four hours.

Lamar was wearing only a white T-shirt and short boxer shorts. Temperatures that night reached 20 degrees.

In the 20 days before the incident, Fleming often left Lamar alone to visit her boyfriend in the middle of the night, although she claims she tracked him using a “face time” feature turned on on a phone left in his room, according to evidence at her preliminary examination in court District 41B in Clinton Township.

Evidence showed that Lamar exited the building’s exterior door once in the last 20 days and stayed outside for six to seven minutes before Fleming, who was smoking marijuana with her boyfriend in the parking lot, discovered he was missing and found him, evidence showed.

Lamar’s father, Larry Mitchell, tearfully testified at the district court hearing and was too upset to attend the sentencing, Stager said.

In her statement, Fleming detailed her love for her son and the agony of his loss. She described her son as “my whole life”, “best friend” and “biggest achievement” and said she prays for his forgiveness.

“I would give my life for my son without a moment’s hesitation,” she said. “No one understands how much my soul hurts for my son every day and how much it has affected me.”

She was accompanied by a friend, whom she hugged in the courtroom after the hearing.