A Lumberton man accused of raping and killing his 5-year-old niece nine years ago is the victim of a “witch hunt,” his attorney told a Pender County Superior Court jury on Oct. 1.
David Wesley Prevatte, 27, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree statutory rape and statutory sex offense with a child by an adult in the death of Paitin Fields. He carried the unconscious child’s limp body into the Pender Memorial Hospital emergency room on Nov. 13, 2017, said Shirley Smircic, assistant district attorney for Prosecutorial District 6. Fields died three days later.
On the fourth day of the trial, attorneys delivered opening statements before Judge Ricardo Jensen at the Frances Dawson Basden Judicial Annex in Burgaw.
Defense attorney: It’s a ‘witch hunt’
Prevatte’s public defender,
Luther Johnson Britt III, told jurors, “David Prevatte did not sexually assault or murder his niece, Paitin Fields.”
Britt argued investigators had no more evidence when they charged Prevatte in 2022 than they did when the case began.
“Investigation continued and continued and continued,” Britt said. “David was not arrested.”
“The state has not, cannot and will not carry its burden beyond a reasonable doubt” that Prevatte is guilty, Britt continued. “The evidence simply is not there. … He became the victim of a witch hunt.”
What the prosecution said
The prosecution painted a different picture.
“Paitin Fields is dead, but the evidence taken altogether can speak for her,” Smircic said. “The picture will be clear that Paitin Fields was sexually assaulted and murdered by her uncle, David Prevatte.”
According to Smircic, Prevatte, who was 19 at the time, was living with his mother, Lisa, and stepfather, Dale Hunt. The couple had custody of Lisa Hunt’s two granddaughters, including Paitin.
Smircic said Prevatte spent the night of Nov. 12, 2017, with a friend, drinking and smoking marijuana.
“As the night went on, what happened was unfathomable,” she said.
In the early-morning hours, Smircic said, Paitin’s sister, who was 7 at the time, woke up in the Willard home and saw Prevatte standing near the couch where Paitin had been sleeping before he walked to his room.
The 7-year-old girl told her grandmother that something was wrong with Paitin’s eyes and she was acting funny, according to Smircic.
“That’s when she sees Paitin in the living room and she screams,” Smircic said. “She screams for Dale. She screams for help.”
Britt said Prevatte was awakened by his mother’s screams and began performing life-saving measures on Paitin, who was not responsive.
Although 911 was called, the family decided not to wait for an ambulance and instead drove Paitin to the hospital.
Expect a lot of DNA talk
Britt said Prevatte held the child in his arms during the trip. She was wearing only soiled underwear. Paitin urinated and defecated on Prevatte, “yet he still maintained her in his arms,” Britt said.
The court is going to hear a lot of talk about DNA, a mixture of which was found on Prevatte’s clothing, Britt said.
“You will learn that DNA is contained in urine,” he said. “It is contained in feces.”
A mixture of DNA belonged to Prevatte, Paitin and a “minute amount” of unidentifiable DNA was found on Paitin, Britt said.
Britt told the jury it will see photographs of Prevatte in the emergency room after arriving with his niece.
“He doesn’t know the answers,” Britt said. “He doesn’t know what happened to her.”
According to the state, Paitin arrived at Pender Memorial Hospital with seizure-like symptoms and an altered mental state. Medical personnel observed marks on her neck, consistent with strangulation, according to a medical examiner’s report.
She was transferred to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where doctors found evidence of sexual assault. In the following days, she lost cranial nerve reflexes and brain activity. She was pronounced dead three days later, prompting a homicide investigation by the Pender County Sheriff’s Office.
An autopsy conducted by the North Carolina chief medical examiner’s office later concluded that Paitin had been strangled and sexually assaulted.
Although Prevatte was identified as a suspect early in the investigation, he wasn’t charged until 2022.
The state gave notice Feb. 9 that it would not seek the death penalty.
District Attorney Jason Smith warned jurors that the case may be gruesome, with graphic photographs and testimony.
Court TV is broadcasting the proceedings.
Bob Liepa is the city of Wilmington and public safety reporter for the StarNews. You can reach him at RLiepa@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Attorney claims 'witch hunt' in Pender County murder trial
