Police said that a woman allegedly stabbed her 6-year-old son to death and then lit their apartment on fire in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
Fire crews initially responded to calls of a fire at a residence in an apartment house at about 8 a.m. on Oct. 19. When firefighters entered the unit on fire, they discovered an “unresponsive” child later identified as Jayveon Pruitt. He had multiple stab wounds.
They transported the child to the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, but he was pronounced dead.
Police said they found 23-year-old A’zaria Shante Burton, the boy’s mother, behind the building with wet clothing and only one sock.
Burton was charged with a slew of crimes, including malice murder, felony murder, first-degree arson, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, possession of a knife during the commission of certain crimes, and first-degree cruelty to children.
The father of the boy lives in Mississippi and told WXIA-TV he was planning to see his son in a few weeks for his birthday.
Burton was booked on Friday evening into the Gwinnett County jail and held without bond.
Chasity Brown, the boy’s paternal grandmother, told WSB-TV that she had just spoken to her grandson on Wednesday when he was carving pumpkins with his mother.
“Everythingwas so normal,” she said. “Because we just talked to him Wednesday.”
Court records said that Burton had fallen behind on rent and was facing eviction.
She went on to say there had been no signs of danger from the mother and that the family would have intervened if there had been a problem.
“He was just so precious,” Brown said. “He loved his mom. He loved his dad. He even said he had the best mom ever.”
Here’s a local news report about the tragedy:
Gwinnett mom killed 5-year-old son by stabbing him, setting home on fire: Warrantswww.youtube.com
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