State will seek death penalty in 2017 rape, killing of Pender County child
A man carried the limp body of his 5-year-old niece into the emergency room at Pender Memorial Hospital in mid-November 2017. She died three days later and her death was investigated as a homicide.
Her uncle, now 23-year-old David Wesley Prevatte -- the man who carried her into the emergency room -- was an initial suspect in her death. It took over four years for an arrest to be made, but Prevatte was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree statutory rape in February 2022 in connection with the death of the child, Paitin Fields.
Now, he could face the death penalty.
On Nov. 13, 2017, Fields was taken to Pender Memorial Hospital with complaints of seizure and an altered mental status. According to a medical examiner's report released the following year, a nurse noticed “ligature marks on her neck, consistent with strangulation" and sent her to New Hanover Regional Medical Center for further evaluation.
Doctor's there examined the child and discovered evidence of the sexual assault.
This year:'Relief': Family, Pender community react to arrest in Paitin Fields' murder
In the following days, she lost cranial nerve reflexes and brain activity. She was pronounced dead at NHRMC on Nov. 16, 2017, and the Pender County Sheriff's Office opened a homicide investigation.
Prevatte was 19 years old at the time of Paitin's death.
Pender County Sheriff Alan Culter announced on Feb. 4, 2022, Prevatte was taken into custody in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, and was extradited to Pender County where he is now facing prosecution.
In early April, the state filed a notice in Pender County Superior Court notifying Prevatte and his counsel that it would proceed capitally in the case. According to the district attorney's office, this means Prevatte could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.
On April 25, Prevatte's attorney submitted a motion requesting a change in venue to move the impending trial from Pender County, claiming prejudice against Prevatte in Pender and other nearby counties would prevent him from receiving a fair and impartial trial.
A hearing for that request is expected to take place in the upcoming months, according to the district attorney's office.
Prevatte remains in custody in Pender County.
Jamey Cross is the public safety reporter at the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter @jameybcross.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Uncle charged in killing niece could face death penalty in Pender Co.
