Jury deliberations are expected to continue Thursday in the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting and killing his 5-year-old niece, Paitin Fields.

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, to which he has pleaded not guilty and claims he is the victim of a “witch hunt.”

Young Girl Died From Abuse

At the age of 19, Prevatte rushed his niece Paitin Fields to the emergency room on November 13, 2017. The victim appeared unconscious and limp in the security footage shown to jurors during trial. The defendant is seen rushing through the hospital doors carrying her, and once nurses began tending to the victim, they immediately noticed something was wrong.

Fields had marks around her neck, and when a nurse went to insert a catheter, she noticed the child’s genital area was injured and showed signs of sexual assault. Unfortunately, Fields was declared brain-dead on November 14, 2017, and was removed from life support the following day. Her organs were removed and donated to others in need.

Fields’ death was declared a homicide and was caused by diffuse acute cerebral hypoxic ischemia due to ligature strangulation.

Events Leading Up To The Murder

At the time of Fields’ death, she and her 7-year-old sister were in their grandparent’s custody and staying under their roof. They had been staying in Prevatte’s room while he lived with his girlfriend. However, he got into a fight with his partner and moved back into his parents’ house, and the girls were moved to the couch in the den.

Prosecutor Shirley Smircic said in her opening statement on Thursday, October 8, 2026, that Fields’ older sister woke up in the early hours of November 13 and saw Prevatte standing by the couch that the victim was lying on.

“As she woke up, she saw her uncle walk back to his room. And when she looked over at Paitin, she noticed something was wrong,” and she tried to wake her grandparents, but they dismissed her back to the living room, according to prosecutors.

When the grandmother woke up later and came into the room, she was horrified by what she saw on the couch. The 5-year-old was rushed to the hospital by Prevatte and the girl’s grandfather.

“Child sexual assault and murder does not occur out in the open,” Smircic said. “It happens behind closed doors. The eyewitness, Paitin Fields, is dead. But the evidence, taken all together, can speak for her.”

The Alleged Witch Hunt

Prevatte’s defense attorney, Luther Britt III, told the jury in his opening statement that his client is innocent on all counts. “David Prevatte did not rape, sexually assault, or murder his niece, Paitin Fields.”

“By his plea of not guilty to these charges, he has told you and the world that he did not kill his niece, he did not rape his niece, he did not sexually assault his niece. He became the victim of a witch hunt. A witch hunt that had evidence that was twisted and turned.”

Britt argued that the detectives did not identify any other suspects and chose to focus solely on Prevatte despite the lack of physical evidence. A rape kit was conducted on Fields, but no male DNA was recovered, so the defendant must be innocent, and there must be no other explanation for how she had signs of sexual assault.

Britt also told the jury that the victim’s sister, who is now 16, did not mention Prevatte’s presence in the living room in the middle of the night until years later. She began living with her paternal aunt, who Britt alleges put the teen up against her uncle to make it seem like he was responsible.

The aunt was asked to leave the courtroom while the victim’s sister was being coached on how to deliver testimony because she would constantly look at her aunt before answering any of the questions.