BURGAW, N.C. (Court TV) — A man accused of sexually assaulting and strangling his 5-year-old niece blew kisses in court on Friday as his sobbing mother left the witness stand.
David Prevatte, 27, is charged with first-degree murder, statutory rape of a child by an adult and statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult in the death of his niece, Paitin Fields. Prevatte has pleaded not guilty; his attorney has called the investigation of his client a “witch hunt.”
Defendant David Prevatte blows a kiss in court on Oct. 2, 2026. (Court TV)
Prevatte had moved back into the home where Paitin lived with her sister, S.F., 7, his mother and his stepfather just days before the child’s death in November 2017. On Friday, Prevatte’s mother, Lisa Hunt, testified that her son frequently moved between her house and his aunt’s house. “It was just nothing unusual for David to come home,” she said.
Paitin and S.F. lived with their grandparents because their parents were separated and Hunt’s home offered stability, not because of a court order, Hunt testified. Hunt said the choice also came down to education, because living at her home gave the girls access to a better school. In November 2017, the girls had been living with their grandparents for more than two years.
Hunt testified that Paitin had been sick all weekend with a bad cough before her death, but without a fever, she saw no reason to take the child to a doctor. Hunt said that on Nov. 12, Paitin fell asleep in her bed; sometime after 9 p.m. she moved the 5-year-old to the couch, where she and S.F. slept.
Hunt said Prevatte returned at about 10 p.m. after being out with a friend. After letting him in, Hunt locked the door behind him and returned to bed.
At about 3 a.m., Hunt said, she woke up when her husband used the bathroom, then went to the living room to turn down the TV. “I turned around and I seen Paitin on the couch seizing,” Hunt said, crying on the stand. She grabbed the child and screamed for help. “She was pale. She was cold to the touch on top and hot to the touch on the bottom,” she said. “Just her eyes rolling back in her head, she’s seizing.”
Hunt tried to call 911 twice but couldn’t get through to dispatchers, prompting Prevatte and his stepfather to take the child to the emergency room on their own.
Lisa Hunt cries during her testimony on Oct. 2, 2026. (Court TV)
Doctors and nurses who treated Paitin testified on Thursday that they immediately noticed bruising and signs of strangulation around the 5-year-old’s neck, but Hunt said she saw no injuries on the child when she found her that morning. “I seen clearly. There was nothing, and I’ve said that from the beginning. There was nothing.”
Hunt cried through much of her testimony and fought back sobs as she listened to the frantic 911 call she finally placed after dispatchers called her back. Prevatte sat emotionless for most of the testimony, but as his mother left the stand, he smiled, turned toward the courtroom’s gallery and blew a kiss.
Prevatte’s trial resumes on Monday morning.
