Paitin Fields.Photo: Facebook
On Nov. 13, 2017, North Carolina resident David Prevatte drove his niece, 5-year-old Paitin Fields, to the hospital with her step-grandfather as she lay unresponsive in the vehicle.
“I have a 5-year-old that was brought in,” an official said on the 911 call,WWAY Newsreported. “Strongly appears to be strangulation marks on her neck.”
Three days later, Paitin died in the hospital.
An autopsy showed signs of strangulation and sexual trauma, authorities said.
David Prevatte.Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office
Prevatte was taken into custody in Lafourche Parish on Friday after North Carolina investigators tracked his location to Bayou Blue, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webresaid in a statement.
He was booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex, where he will remain while he awaits extradition to North Carolina.
“We were more than happy to assist in what will hopefully bring closure to a case and bring the perpetrator of a heinous crime to justice,” Webre said.
This isn’t the first time Prevatte has been behind bars.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In March 2019, Prevatte pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of intimidating a witness, breaking and entering, larceny, and burning a building, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said in the statement.
Prevatte is now in custody again while he awaits his next court date. It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
‘She Could Have Been Miss USA’
Meanwhile, Paitin’s family continues to grieve the loss of the little girl they loved so much.
“This was the last picture I have of Paitin that I have on my pictures,” Paitin’s aunt, Marie Spaulding, said in a Facebook post Friday.
“To everyone that knows our story and what happened to Paitin, we got answers today and someone was charged in her death.”
But the case, she said, “has taken a toll on me and my family.”
At times, Spaulding admitted, she “thought about telling the detective to just make this a cold case.”
Detectives told her not to give up, because “if I did that I would be letting Paitin down,” she wrote.
“If this could bring her back I would be so happy but I know she is in Jesus' arms saying good job Aunt Ree Ree for not giving up,” Spaulding wrote.
“I believe that’s why it rain off and on today to wash some my pain way,” she wrote. “Yes I break down and cried today because I was relieved. Thank You Pender Co Sheriff department.#justiceforpaitinfields#forever5.”
In 2019, Spaulding toldWWAY Newsthat Paitin was a happy little girl who had a promising future ahead of her.
Paitin Fields.Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office
“Every time I seen her she was smiling and would come running up to me and say ‘Hey, Aunt Ree Ree!'” she recalled.
“She could have been the next president,” Spaulding said. “She could have been Miss USA.”
source: people.com
