Macomb County Mom Sentenced In Son's Death

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — A Clinton Township mother was sentenced to probation after her 5-year-old son wandered from a Clinton Township home and froze to death at a nearby park in January 2023, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.

Derricka Fleming, 26, was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony, in connection with the child's death.

Prosecutors said Fleming left her Clinton Township apartment after putting her five-year-old son, Lamar Mitchell, to bed on Jan. 22, 2023.

While Fleming was upstairs, the boy got out of bed and left the apartment, prosecutors said.

Officers searched the area around the apartment complex and found the boy at a nearby park near Harper Avenue and 15 Mile Road the following morning, officials said.

Police took the boy to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

Prosecutors said the boy froze to death.

"While we respect the court's decision, our office firmly believed that confinement was warranted in this tragic case. We requested incarceration to underscore the severity of the crime and to seek justice for the loss of this young life. However, the court has chosen to impose probation instead," said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido.