Trial Ordered For Man In Death Of Child On Indian Reservation
BAY CITY (WWJ/AP) - A man will stand trial in the death of a 4-year-old boy whose badly burned remains were discovered outside a house on a Michigan Indian reservation.
A federal judge in Bay City on Tuesday set April 23 for Anthony Bennett's trial.
Bennett, 21, was indicted earlier this month on first-degree murder, assaulting a child and other charges in Carnel Chamberlain's slaying.
Carnel was last seen alive on June 21 when his mother, Jaimee Chamberlain, went to work and left him in Bennett's care on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian reservation, about 70 miles north of Lansing.
A week-long search on the reservation ensued until the remains were found buried outside the home. Authorities say Carnel's body was so badly burned that authorities had trouble identifying it as human remains.
In a June interview with WWJ Newsradio 950, Jaimee Chamberlain said she initially became suspicious when Bennett, who lived with them, didn't join her as she frantically searched for the child. She said that it seemed Bennett might be "hiding something."
Bennett was subsequently charged with an earlier assault on the boy, a key step that kept him in custody while authorities developed the murder case against him.
A Nov. 7 grand jury indictment charged Bennett with first-degree murder, assaulting a child, assault with a dangerous weapon, animal cruelty and witness tampering.
The case is being handled in federal court since the crime occurred on an Indian reservation.
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