BURGAW, N.C. (Court TV) — Days after juror misconduct led to a mistrial in a murder case, prosecutors are asking a judge to move the case to another county to prevent it from happening again.
David Prevatte sits in court on Oct. 8, 2026. (Court TV)
David Prevatte, 27, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and statutory sexual offense in the death of his 5-year-old niece, Paitin Fields. Paitin was living at Prevatte’s parents’ home on Nov. 13, 2017, when she was found having a seizure. Prevatte rushed his niece to the hospital, where doctors and nurses immediately saw marks around her neck and signs of sexual assault. Paitin died two days later.
After two days of deliberations, Judge Ricardo Jensen declared a mistrial on Oct. 15 after finding that three jurors had told the rest of the panel they had information about the case that hadn’t been presented in court. Juror No. 2 initially reported that Juror No. 3 had made comments; Juror No. 3 then revealed that No. 2 had also made comments, and when Juror No. 9 said that Juror No. 4 had also made statements about the defendant, it became clear there were not enough alternate jurors to continue deliberations.
On Monday, prosecutor Shirley Smircic filed a motion asking Jensen to move Prevatte’s retrial out of Pender County. “The Defendant’s trial received extensive news coverage every day in the local media markets,” she wrote. “The Defendant’s trial was broadcasted live on CourtTV. Several seated Pender County jurors from the trial have been outspoken on the local media and on social networking sites.”
Juror No. 3 spoke to WWAY after the mistrial, telling the outlet, “I just tried to speak my mind and stand up for what I believe in, and that was not received well by others.” The other jurors on the panel reported that Juror No. 3 had said Prevatte was not in the KKK, despite there being no mention of the white supremacist organization during the trial. “I tried very hard to be very unbiased,” the juror said. “I did not do the things that they said I did.”
As the confusion among the jurors unfolded, Prevatte’s attorney did not ask for a mistrial until his client specifically requested one. When it became clear that too many jurors on the panel had been tainted, prosecutors did not oppose the mistrial.
None of the jurors was held in contempt for their behavior, but they did receive a strong admonishment from Jensen, who told them, “The reason for this mistrial is based on misconduct by you.”
Prevatte is due to return to court on Nov. 13 for a pretrial hearing.
