LV man denies killing toddler

Kim Smith

Tuesday, May 2, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

A Las Vegas man on trial for a toddler's beating death two years ago told jurors Monday he didn't touch the child, but he feels responsible for his death.

Tears streaming down his face, Kevin Camp, 28, told jurors he believes he drove Brook Lain to lose control and beat her 2-year-old son, Lamar Brooks Jr., to death on Jan. 28, 1998.

Camp, a former UNLV student, took the stand on the last day of testimony in his murder trial. Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments this afternoon.

Jurors must decide who makes the more credible witness: Camp, who is accused of beating the boy so badly his bowel ruptured, or Lain, an admitted drug user and prostitute who has never been charged in the case.

Lain told jurors that in the weeks before her son died she came home several times to find her son with fresh bruises. Camp, she said, always explained them away as accidents.

Lain testified that she left her son with Camp when she went to work at a local casino about 10 p.m. Jan. 26. When she returned the next day at 3 p.m., Lain said, Camp sent her to make up $300 she had gambled away.

She came home at 10 p.m. to change and during the 30 minutes she was home, Lain said, she noticed her son was unusually quiet and vomited after drinking some pop.

Lain said Camp made her leave again, but she ended up sleeping in Camp's car at another casino rather than working. That was the last time she saw her son alive, she said.

On Monday Camp denied sending Lain out. They argued, he said, about the poor mother she made and her being a prostitute.

Camp said he was upset that Lain had taken his car and left him stranded with Lamar for two days with no food in the weekly hotel room they were sharing.

During the argument, Camp told Lain he had a job offer in California and would be leaving without her soon, he testified.

Camp said he left the hotel for a few hours, and after he returned, he noticed the boy was subdued. He suspected Lain had beaten the boy, but he didn't do anything about it.

"I just felt it was her child, her responsibility," Camp said. "I didn't want to get involved and I was getting ready to leave" for California.

A few hours later, Camp said he left Lain and the boy alone again, returning at 11 p.m. Lain left at midnight.

Over the next few hours, Camp said, the boy had problems breathing and began vomiting. Camp called 911 about 3:20 a.m., but didn't tell paramedics about the suspected beatings or the argument.

"Because of the way I spoke to Brook, I felt my actions toward her led to what happened," Camp said, struggling to maintain his composure.

During his cross-examination, jurors learned that Camp was juggling three women, that he lied on several job and college entrance applications and he made conflicting statements to the police.

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com.