Kimberly Smith Faces Death Penalty In Child’s Murder

Kimberly Smith NC

Kimberly Smith is facing the death penalty as prosecutors called the death of Kendall Marquise Smith one of the worst they have ever seen. Kendall Marquise Smith who died in June 2021 was rushed to the hospital as the five year old boy was unresponsive however doctors were not able to revive the child. An autopsy was done on Kendall Marquise Smith who had a number of new and old injuries. Kimberly Smith would first tell police that the five year old boy tripped and banged his head however the child’s brother would tell a social worker that the boy was hit with a wooden yard stick, a phone charger cord and a belt. The autopsy report showed that Kendall Marquise Smith had died from blunt force trauma to the back of the head and the bruise that was present matched that of the belt buckle. Kimberly Smith has been charged with murder and also child abuse in regards to Kendall Marquise Smith six year old brother.

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A North Carolina prosecutor has said she will seek the death penalty for a woman charged with killing her adopted 5-year-old son.

Kimberly Monique Smith, 37, is charged with first-degree murder in the June 6, 2021 death of 5-year-old Kendall Marquise Smith. She is also charged with felony intentional child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury in connection to Kendall’s 6-year-old brother, according to court records.

Assistant District Attorney Belinda Foster said in Forsyth Superior Court that she wanted to have the case declared capital, describing the boy’s death as “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,” the Winston-Salem Journal reported.

A judge ordered that Smith be assigned a second attorney, as required under state law.

Winston-Salem police officers went to Kimberly Smith’s home at 9:49 p.m. on June 6, along with emergency-medical technicians, after getting a 911 call about an unresponsive child. The officer found Smith’s friend performing CPR on Kendall in a bedroom. The boy was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

An autopsy determined that the boy died from blunt-force trauma to the back of the head, which caused his brain to swell and led to a lack of oxygen, according to search warrants.

https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/regional/article_13db5206-9751-11ec-817c-731ab5726896.html

Kimberly Smith Other News

A North Carolina prosecutor has said she will seek the death penalty against a woman charged with killing her adopted 5-year-old son.

Thirty-seven-year-old Kimberly Monique Smith is charged with first-degree murder in the June 6, 2021 death of 5-year-old Kendall Marquise Smith. She also is charged with felony intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury in connection to Kendall’s 6-year-old brother.

A Forsyth Superior Court declared that the case was capital and ordered that Smith be assigned a second attorney, as required under state law.

https://www.wltx.com/article/news/crime/death-penalty-sought-north-carolina-woman-charged-childs-death/101-86949dab-2aaa-45b8-9211-09d798b19e1c

David Prevatte Charged In Paitin Fields Murder

david prevatte mugshot photos

David Prevatte has been arrested and charged in the murder and sexual assault of five year old Paitin Fields. According to police reports David Prevatte, who was named as a suspect back in 2018 and has been officially charged with first degree murder, first degree statutory rape, and statutory sex offense with child by adult. Little Paitin Fields was brought to the hospital in 2017 where doctors initially thought she died from a respiratory illness however upon examination found the child had suffered from sexual trauma and strangulation. David Prevatte was arrested in 2018 on charges of intimidating a witness when he called his mother and threatened the lead investigator in the Paitin Fields murder. David Prevatte would spend time in prison on unrelated charges and would be released in 2019. Now David Prevatte could be facing the death penalty if he is convicted in the murder of Paitin Fields

David Prevatte Other News

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office has announced an arrest in the murder of Paitin Fields.

The 5 year-old child was sexually assaulted and strangled in November of 2017.

During a news conference on Friday afternoon, Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler announced that the previously named suspect in the case, David Prevatte, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder, first degree statutory rape, and statutory sex offense with child by adult.

Prevatte is Paitin’s uncle.

Fields died November 16 of 2017. That was three days after her family took the unresponsive five-year-old to Pender Memorial Hospital. The initial reports said the family alerted the staff that Paitin had been fighting a respiratory issue for days, but the autopsy showed signs of sexual trauma and strangulation.

Prevatte was named a person of interest in the case in 2018, after he was charged with intimidating a witness and communicating threats.

He was released from prison on separate charges one year ago.

Prevatte was taken into custody by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana. He is awaiting extradition to Pender County.

https://www.wwaytv3.com/pender-county-sheriff-providing-updating-on-murder-of-paitin-fields/

Paitin Fields Photos

Paitin Fields

David Prevatte More News

The uncle of Paitin Fields has been charged in her murder.

During a news conference Friday, Pender County Sheriff Alan Cutler said that David Wesley Prevatte has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree statutory rape and first-degree statutory sex offense with child by adult in the case.

Prevatte was taken into custody in by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana and is awaiting extradition.

“This has been an ongoing investigation and I am extremely proud of the effort that has been put into this investigation by my personnel,” Cutler said. “I also would like to express my thanks to Sheriff Craig Webre and his staff in Lafourche Parish for assisting our investigators with taking Prevatte into custody.”

“Today’s arrest is the culmination of years of hard work,” District Attorney Ben David said.

It was more than four years after Fields’ death before someone was charged with the child’s murder.

The 5-year-old was rushed to Pender Memorial Hospital on Nov. 13, 2017, and was unconscious as she entered the emergency department, according to an autopsy report. She was later transferred to New Hanover Regional Medical Center where an exam revealed evidence of a sexual assault.

She died three days later on Nov. 16, 2017. The autopsy report concluded that Fields was strangled and was the victim of sexual abuse.

Prevatte was publicly named as a suspect in her murder on June 22, 2018, when he was charged with threatening the life of the lead investigator in the case.

At the time, Prevatte was in the Pender County Jail on unrelated charges which he ultimately pleaded guilty to. He was released from prison in January 2020 after serving approximately ten months.

In a jailhouse interview, Prevatte denied killing Paitin. He acknowledged that he was the one who found Paitin unresponsive and apparently seizing the morning she was taken to the hospital, but said his innocence was demonstrated by his rendering aid to the child.

David Prevatte Videos

Nathanael High Teen Killer Murders Father

Nathanael High

Nathanael High was fifteen years old when he murdered his father who happened to be the Chief of police. According to court documents Nathanael High and his thirteen year old girlfriend would fatally shoot the victim as he lay asleep. The teen couple would take a number of items from the home before fleeing. The pair would be arrested soon after. The thirteen year old girlfriend (who has not been named) was convicted of second degree murder and is due to be released in 2024. Nathanael High was initially sentenced to life in prison however it was later reduced and the teen killer is scheduled to be released in 2023

Nathanael High 2023 Information

Nathanael High 2022
Offender Number:0840799                                          
Inmate Status:ACTIVE
Gender:MALE
Race:WHITE
Ethnic Group:NOT HISPANIC/LATINO
Birth Date:02/03/1987
Age:34
Current Location:PIEDMONT CI

Nathanael High More News

A man who murdered his father when he was 15 years old will get out of prison early.

A judge has resentenced Nathanael High nearly two decades after he was originally sentenced to life in prison. Changes in state law since High’s conviction bar a minor from getting life without parole.

Nathanael High admitted he killed his father but said he shouldn’t spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder.

Nathanael High’s mother cried in court at the thought of hugging her son again, which is something she hasn’t done since 2010.

“It’s hard for people to understand that I still love my dad too, and I miss him,” Nathanael High said.

In 2002, Nathanael and his 13-year-old girlfriend shot his father, Randy High, as he slept in his bed. Nathanael High said Randy High, who was the chief of the Gaston College Police Department, was horribly abusive.

“Nothing my dad ever did to me means he deserved what happened to him on Feb. 10, 2002,” Nathanael High said.

A change in state law allowed him to enter a new plea for second-degree murder. The plea can get Nathanael High out of prison in as little as two years.

“It’s very important for me that my family know I’m sorry for this,” he said.

Gaston County Police Chief Joe Ramey knew Randy High and worked the crime scene in 2002.

“It’s always difficult to accept a lower sentence in a premeditated or cold-blooded murder such as this,” Ramey said.

Ramey said he understands the reason for the changes in the law, but he thinks there should be an exception in this case. Nathanael High and his girlfriend reportedly went to the mall and got ice cream after the murder.

Randy, he’s not here to speak, so we have to speak for him,” Ramey said.

Nathanael High’s sister spoke for her brother.

“Nathanael has a wonderful heart, and we need him to come home,” Melissa Slamcik said.

Nathanael High could get out of prison in 2023, which means he would get out a year before his girlfriend and co-defendant who is serving time for second-degree murder.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/gaston-county-man-be-released-prison-early-killing-father/ENPBAOP6Y5ES5FDI3VV2GD3DPU/

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A Gaston County man convicted of the 2002 killing of his father while still a teenager could negotiate a new plea agreement during Gaston County Superior Court on Thursday.

A Gaston County jury found Nathanael High guilty in May 2004 of first-degree murder and robbery of a dangerous weapon in the death of his father, Randy High, who was police chief of Gaston College.

High, who was 15 when his father died, was serving a life sentence when U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that automatic sentences of life without parole for juveniles was unconstitutional because it constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

As a result of a hearing held in 2014, the first-degree murder conviction was thrown out and High pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, getting him a sentence that concludes Oct. 10, 2030.

In a N.C. Court of Appeal opinion filed on June 2, Appeals Court Judge Christopher Brook wrote that the trial court erred in calculating High’s prior record level, which resulted in making him eligible for a longer sentence.

High appeared in Gaston Superior Court Monday afternoon before Judge Jesse Caldwell, but District Attorney Locke Bell recommended High’s negotiation hearing be held Thursday rather than Monday.

“After conversations with the state and the defense this (Monday) morning as the potential for resolution, both the state and defense are in agreement that it’d be premature to move forward this morning,” Bell said.

“It’d be best if this be heard Thursday morning at 9:30, which would allow the defense attorneys to have adequate time to discuss a possible resolution with the defendant,” Bell continued.

Caldwell agreed to move High’s hearing to Thursday, giving High’s defense team more time to discuss a new plea agreement.

High is currently serving his sentence at the Mountain View Correctional Institution in Spruce Pine.

https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/courts/2020/08/24/gaston-man-convicted-of-killing-dad-seeks-shorter-sentence/115012014/

Frequently Asked Questions

Nathanael High Now

Nathaniel High is currently incarcerated at the Piedmont Correctional Institute

Nathanael High Release Date

Nathaniel High is scheduled for release in 2023

Darius Sessoms Facing Death Penalty In 5 Year Old’s Murder

darius sessoms Cannon Hinnant  photos

Darius Sessoms will face the death penalty in North Carolina if he is convicted in the brutal murder of five year old Cannon Hinnant. According to police reports Darius Sessoms would fatally shoot five year old Cannon Hinnant in front of his two siblings. Darius Sessoms who lived in a home next to the Hinnart’s family reportedly ran across the street towards Cannon Hinnart and fatally shot the little boy in the head. Darius Sessoms would quickly become the prime suspect and would be arrested and later charged with the murder of the boy. North Carolina officials have announced they intend to seek the death penalty if Darius Sessoms if convicted.

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The man accused of murdering 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant in his front yard in 2020 has officially been indicted.

Investigators said Darius Sessoms, 25, shot and killed Hinnant on August 9, 2020 in Wilson, North Carolina. The young boy was on his bike not far from his own front door when he was fatally shot

“I just don’t understand why he did it,” a neighbor said at the time. “How can you walk up to a little boy, point blank, and put a gun to his head and just shoot him? How could anyone do that?”

On Dec. 22, a grand jury indicted Sessoms on the charge of first-degree murder. Sessoms’ next court date is scheduled for Jan. 24.

Aolani Takemi Marie Pettit, 21, was also later charged with felony accessory after the fact.

https://abc11.com/cannon-hinnant-darius-sessoms-indictment-murder-charge/11393888/

Darius Sessoms Other News

The mother of a North Carolina 5-year-old who was shot and killed in his front yard said she backs prosecutors’ plans to seek the death penalty, insisting Wednesday, “Nobody should get away with murdering a child.” The Wilson County district attorney’s office announced its plans this week to pursue capital punishment for Darius Sessoms in the August 2020 shooting, for which he has been indicted for first-degree murder. Cannon Hinnant was riding his bicycle through his father’s front yard in Wilson when a man shot him in the head at point-blank range.

The case drew international headlines and, though outraged and deep in grief, Wilson struggled to contain the crisis from spilling over into ugly backlash. Social media exploded with racist rhetoric noting that Sessoms is Black and Cannon was white. One NC leader drew criticism for making online suggestions for lynching. The community came together in candlelight vigils and around a large downtown mural, painted by an Ohio graffiti artist and featuring the child’s silhouette over the word “Innocent.” Twitter hashtags such as #justiceforcannon continue.

Days after his arrest, Sessoms’ mother Carolyn told the N&O her 25-year-old son shot Cannon in a drug-fueled haze that her family was powerless to stop. She said she had gone to church earlier that day and found him in the home they shared, unrecognizable. In tears on her front porch, Carolyn Sessoms shook with grief as she spoke, “We think he had gotten hold of something. He was hallucinating. We tried to get the gun out of his hand, but he was so strong. He was so strong.”

On Wednesday, Parker said it was difficult to see her son’s accused slayer in person during a hearing this week

“It was a lot of anger,” she said, “a lot of trying to hold back, keeping my mouth shut, not wanting to stand up and say something.” A judge still must sign off on the state’s plans to pursue the death penalty, and another hearing is set for April.

Meanwhile, Parker said she supports capital punishment in the case because “I just want this to make an example. It’s been hard, period. Every single day it’s hard. We lost a 5-year-old child.” She said she tried to reach out to Sessoms’ father, who tackled his son during the attack, but has not heard back.

“If it wasn’t for him,” she said, “I would have lost all my kids. He could have lost his own life.”

Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article257736033.html#storylink=cpy

John Rook North Carolina Execution

John Rook - North Carolina

John Rook was executed by the State of North Carolina for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents John Rook would kidnap the victim who was later sexually assaulted before being run over by a car. John Rock would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. John Rook would be executed by lethal injection on September 19 1986

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Wearing his favorite cowboy boots and proclaiming ‘Freedom, freedom — at last, man!’ John Rook was executed by injection today for the rape and murder of a 25-year-old nurse.

Rook, 27, lost his bid for a stay on 5-4 Supreme Court vote shortly before midnight EDT and was wheeled into the Central Prison execution chamber about 2 a.m. wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt, blue jeans and his Dingo boots.

Freedom, freedom — at last, man! It’s been a good one,’ said Rook, a feisty inmate who stood 5-foot-4 with braided, waist-length blond hair and a beard that hung midway down his chest.

John Rook, whose execution had been postponed five times, received a lethal injection of the muscle relaxant procuronium bromide and was pronounced dead at 2:11 a.m., corrections spokeswoman Renee McCoy said.

‘He seemed to be very peaceful,’ said witness Lisa Shell. ‘He took several deep breaths (and) sighs and then there was a sunken impression on his chest.’

John Rook was convicted of killing Ann Marie Roche, 25, a Raleigh nurse he abducted and raped during a 1980 drinking spree. The woman was beaten with a tire iron, slashed with a knife, run over with a car and left to die in an isolated field, police said. Her body was still warm when found the next day — evidence her death had been long and painful, experts said

John Rook ordered a final meal of 12 hot dogs ‘all the way’ Thursday but only ate three, McCoy said. He made a point of telling officials that he planned to wear his Harley-Davidson T-Shirt and Dingo boots to the execution chamber.

John Rook was the 66th person nationwide and the third in North Carolina to be executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. Velma Barfield, a 54-year-old grandmother put to death in 1984, was the state’s last execution.

Texas leads the nation in the number of post-1976 executions with 18.

John Rook had asked the Supreme Court to grant the stay on grounds the death penalty discriminates against males, poor people and those whose victims are white. Rook and Roche were white.

Rook’s attorneys said in asking Gov. Jim Martin to grant clemency that the state is partly to blame for failing to intervene in Rook’s family situation. Rook’s brother said their father once stripped young Rook naked and beat him with a belt until he bled, and often gave Rook liquor and beer as early as age 4 to watch him get ‘stone drunk.’

Martin’s decision not to grant clemency came about 12 hours before the scheduled execution.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/19/Rook-executed-for-killing-nurse/5028527486400/