MILWAUKEE (TCN) — A 27-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty to killing a missing 5-year-old boy and leaving his body in a dumpster a mile from his home.
Court records show David Pietura was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday, July 26, for killing Prince McCree. He will not be allowed to have contact with the boy’s family. Pietura was supposed to go to trial on June 3, but he entered the guilty plea for first-degree intentional homicide that day. Prosecutors dropped charges of physical abuse of a child and hiding a corpse as part of the plea deal. He could have faced up to two life sentences in prison if he did not plead guilty and instead was convicted on all three counts.
According to Pietura’s criminal complaint, McCree’s mother last saw him on Oct. 25 at approximately 9 a.m. when he wanted to go to the basement to play video games. McCree, her boyfriend, and their three kids lived in the same house as another woman, her daughter, and two sons, one of whom is alleged to have played a role in the boy’s death.
On the day he went missing, McCree reportedly woke up with a sore throat and did not go to school. His mother believed he used her phone and played video games with Pietura, who lived in the basement. At around 1 p.m., McCree’s mother went grocery shopping with Pietura’s co-defendant, Erik Mendoza. When they returned, McCree was gone. Pietura claimed he had not seen McCree.
McCree’s mother called police at around 6 p.m. after searching around the home and neighborhood for him. A detective arrived at the home and reportedly discovered blood on the cement floor of the basement. Pietura “immediately attempted to adjust the carpet runners.” He claimed he and Mendoza were “roughhousing earlier,” which led to Pietura getting a bloody nose. The detective reportedly noticed more blood around the home and called in additional detectives.
Pietura told detectives he played video games most of the morning, then went on a walk with Mendoza from around 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cellphone data, however, showed they did not go anywhere near where they said they did. Pietura had blood on his leg and was arrested for obstruction.
On Oct. 26 at 3:45 a.m., Milwaukee Police executed a search warrant at the home and used a cadaver dog to help locate any odors of decomposition. The dog found an odor on the bottom of the basement stairs near three sweatshirts that were hanging on the back of a door, as well as other blood evidence in the room.
According to the criminal complaint, Pietura said Mendoza hit the boy with a golf club several times. The men reportedly bound McCree using duct tape and gagged him using rags. Investigators also learned Mendoza stabbed multiple people just days before McCree was killed.
During an interview, Pietura said he “didn’t want any of this” and that he “loved that kid.” He confirmed McCree was “not alive” and that his body was left in a dumpster near a bar. Pietura told detectives Mendoza choked and beat McCree. When he died, the two of them wrapped his body in trash bags and dumped it.
He reportedly said Mendoza confided in him that he “never liked [McCree] and discussed wanting to kill” the boy.
Pietura said he did not intervene to stop the beating, and he even punched and beat McCree to keep him quiet. Pietura took a 30-pound dumbbell and dropped it on McCree’s head.
McCree’s body was found on Oct. 26 at around 9 a.m.
Surveillance footage reportedly showed the two men walking with a white garbage bag, and several minutes later, walking in the other direction without the bag.
Mendoza was also arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide, physical abuse of a child, hiding a corpse, and three counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Although Mendoza is 16 years old, prosecutors are trying him as an adult. He is still awaiting trial.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Pietura said at his sentencing, “For my involvement, I feel death would be right,” adding, “We can’t go back in time. We can only move forward. Prince can’t, but I can. And that ain’t right.”
McCree’s mother told him, “I just don’t know how you can say you loved him, then do what you did to him.”
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