GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The father of the 5-year-old killed in Gwinnett County said he wants his son to be remembered for who he was, not how he died.
“He was very energetic,” said Daquarius Pruitt of his first born. “He just loved life. He loved playing. He loved his mom, he loved his dad, he loved everybody.”
Pruitt spoke from Mississippi, where he lives. He said his son, Jayveon, was set to visit him and Jayveon’s two younger siblings in a few weeks to celebrate his sixth birthday.
“The night before all this happened, I got home, and I called him,” Pruitt said, as he remembered their last conversation.
They were supposed to play a video game together, as they often did.
“He said ‘Dad, I’m going to go take a shower, and I’m going to call you back,'” Pruitt recalled.
He never got that call.
At the time, Pruitt thought it was because it was past his son's bedtime.
Pruitt never got a call back but said he assumed it was because it was past his bedtime.
“I’ll just call him tomorrow,” Pruitt said he thought to himself. “But that was the last time I talked to him.”
The next day on Oct. 19 a fire happened at an apartment complex in Peachtree Corners. Police said when first responders arrived, they found an unresponsive boy with “multiple stab wounds.” They said he was the only person inside the unit.
The boy was identified on Tuesday morning as Jayveon Pruitt.
A’zaria Burton, Jayveon’s mother, is accused of stabbing her 5-year-old to death and then lighting her apartment on fire with Jayveon inside.
Police said she now faces multiple charges including malice murder, felony murder, and first degree arson. Burton was booked in Gwinnett County Jail last Friday night and is being held without bond.
“He was just a great kid,” Pruitt said. “He never was trouble or anything like that. So that’s why I’m just trying to see how all this happened.”
Pruitt said he is still trying to wrap his head around what happened to his son. He said his son’s mother loved him and took care of him. Pruitt called the news of his son’s death “mind boggling," calling it a nightmare.
“I just hope he wasn’t up or knew that she did it. I just hope he was asleep,” said Pruitt. “Because if he wasn’t asleep, I just really don’t know.”
He said he hopes people will remember Jayveon as a smiling, goofy kid.
“Don’t think about what happened to him,” said Pruitt. “Just think about how joyful and playful he was. And the type of kid he was and the smile he had.”
Pruitt also asked for prayers for the family.