CARNEL CHAMBERLAIN - 4 yo/ Convicted: Mother's BF: Anthony Bennett - Mount Pleasant MI

i looked up carnel's name and some of the things i read about this family makes me sick.

Kevin Chamberlain, Carnel Chamberlain's cousin, speaks out on culture of abuse

Published: Monday, August 13, 2012
By HOLLY MAHAFEY

Kevin Chamberlain is the victim of abuse, and he wants everyone to know it.

It took the tragedy of his 4-year-old cousin’s disappearance and murder for the former Tribal chief to admit to his own past, begin to come to terms with it, and connect the dots of generations of abuse in the Tribal community.

Now he hopes to stop it.

Chamberlain believes cycles of abuse began with the Indian Boarding School era, which essentially made children orphans and forever changed the dynamics of Native American families.

Kevin Chamberlain is the cousin of Jaimee Chamberlain and served as family spokesperson when her 4-year-old son Carnel was reported missing in late June; he was later found dead.

In federal court documents Jaimee admitted her then-boyfriend, Anthony M. Bennett, had repeatedly abused Carnel. Bennett now faces federal charges for assaulting Carnel and additional charges are expected.

“My reason for getting involved in the first place was feeling a sense of paternal duty -- outside of my father, I am the oldest Chamberlain boy,” he said.

“It’s kind of taken on a life of its own, it really has,” said Chamberlain, sitting in his office at Sweetgrass Productions in the Soaring Eagle Resort Hotel, surrounded by audio equipment, and TV and computer monitors.

Chamberlain owns Sweetgrass Productions and is also a graphic designer and a locally-renowned musician.

“I could have never seen this coming, never imagined this evolving into what it’s evolving into,” he said. “What I am feeling and learning, and coming to terms with learning – what’s coming out of this is an incredible need for education.”

Read More: http://www.sourcenewspapers.com/articles/2012/08/13/news/doc502919f833c55058308101.txt?viewmode=2

Judge calls child's death a 'heinous and barbarous act' in sending killer Anthony Bennett to prison

By Cole Waterman | cwaterma@mlive.com
on May 22, 2014 at 5:00 PM
updated May 22, 2014 at 7:03 PM

BAY CITY, MI — About 40 people sat in a federal courtroom in downtown Bay City, many wiping tears from their eyes with the smiling face of 4-year-old Carnel Chamberlain stared from their custom T-shirts, as they watched the little boy's killer, Anthony M. Bennett, learn he'll spend the next four decades in prison.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on the afternoon of Thursday, May 22, sentenced the 22-year-old Bennett to 40 years in prison. After he serves his term, he is to be on supervised release for five more years, the judge ordered.

"I'm just very sorry for the victim's family, the way they feel about things," a shackled Bennett told the judge, his speech difficult to understand through his mumbling diction. "I'm very disappointed in myself and things. What your opinion is and how you proceed today is warranted. I'm at a loss for words."

Five people sat behind Bennett in support of him throughout the hearing.

After Bennett spoke, Carnel's grandmother, Joann Moses, spoke of the wreckage Bennett caused by killing Carnel on June 21, 2012.

"The hardest thing I'll have to do is go through life without Carnel," Moses said. "He took that from us, from me, from us."

She described Carnel as a tender soul, whom would start each morning by asking her how she slept the night before. She said his favorite colors were blue and green and he was looking forward to starting school.

"Carnel had nothing but love inside," she continued. "He was a child of God and he knew it."

Moses told Ludington that sending Bennett to death would not be justice enough.

"This was a senseless death of a child by a sick coward," she said. Bennett hung his head as she spoke.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig F. Wininger related to Ludington some of the particulars of the case, and said he failed in maintaining his objectivity in the case due to its very nature. He said that Carnel stopped living with Moses on May 27, 2012, and went to live with his mother, Jaimee Chamberlain, and Bennett at the couple's Mount Pleasant home.

"Over the next month, Mr. Bennett physically abused him," Wininger said. On June 21, Bennett punched Carnel at least twice in the head, causing his skull to fracture, and then burned his body in a fireplace, Wininger said.

"In a little over three weeks, we know Carnel went from a home, to a house, to a fireplace, to a shallow grave Mr. Bennett put him in," Wininger said. That same day, Bennett claimed Carnel went missing, and a week-long search was mounted until the boy's remains were found under his house's porch on June 28.

"He killed a child, devastated a family and victimized a community," Wininger said. "The fact his childhood may have been tragic does not mitigate the tragedy he caused."

Wininger referred to statements made by Bennett's attorney, John A. Shea, who said his client's "upbringing was abysmal. When he was lucky, he was simply neglected. When he was unlucky, it exacerbated into abuse."

At age 9, Bennett was removed from his family's custody and became a ward of the state, Shea said.

"He's one of those human beings I can truly say didn't stand a chance," Shea said. He added that he wasn't relating these facts in an attempt to downplay Carnel's death.

"The offense was horrible and unlike in some cases of homicide, there is no justifying it, no excusing it and nothing to mitigate the acts."

With this in mind, Ludington leveled some criticism at a community that could allow Bennett to mature in such a manner.

"Mr. Bennett is responsible for taking Carnel's life, but other people are responsible for Mr. Bennett's upbringing," the judge said. "If he is a man on today's date without a moral or ethical governor, that's the way he was trained.

"Nevertheless," Ludington continued, "Mr. Bennett, is a dangerous man, an unusually dangerous man because he lacks that ethical governor. There is no other way to say it — Carnel's loss is the result of a heinous and barbarous act, period."

Bennett in December pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with Carnel's slaying.

In exchange for his plea, the prosecution dismissed single counts of first-degree murder, assault resulting in substantial bodily injury, assault within special maritime or territorial jurisdiction, assault with a dangerous weapon, animal cruelty and two counts of tampering with a witness, victim or informant.

The day of the slaying, Bennett was babysitting Carnel while his mother was at work.

Two of the assault counts Bennett faced stem from him reportedly attacking and abusing Carnel, incidents Jaimee Chamberlain told investigators she witnessed. Chamberlain also told investigators that Bennett attacked her with a baseball bat, leading to the last assault count.

Jaimee Chamberlain was not present at the sentencing. Relatives said they are unaware of her current status.

Relatives also said they are satisfied with Bennett's 40-year sentence.

"It's senseless. There's no other word for it," said cousin Culver Judson.

Asked what he would say to Bennett if he had the opportunity to speak with him, Judson said he would tell the killer, "May God have mercy on your soul."

"He'll find his fate in prison," added another relative, who declined to give her name.

After the sentencing, U.S Marshals took Bennett from the federal courthouse in downtown Bay City. He will be housed at the Federal Correctional Institute in Milan to begin serving his sentence.

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2014/05/federal_judge_says_childs_deat.html