David Prevatte took his 5-year-old niece, Paitin Fields, to a hospital with her step-grandfather as she lay unconscious in the car. This occurred on November 13, 2017, in North Carolina.
A few days later, the little girl died at the medical facility. An autopsy revealed evidence of strangulation and sexual trauma.
In June 2018, Prevatte was identified as a suspect in the child’s murder. In 2019, he is said to have made threats on the phone to his mother. He warned that the lead investigator in the case “got it coming to him.”
Now, after more than four years of investigating, Prevatte, 23, was arrested on Friday. He faces charges for first-degree murder, first-degree statutory rape, and statutory sex offense with child by adult.
Prevatte, who was found in Louisana, is being held in jail as he waits to be extradited back to North Carolina to face the charges.
Paitin was described by her family as a happy, smiling, little girl with a bright future ahead of her.