After pleading guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of a volunteer firefighter who was coming to his assistance, a North Little Rock man apologized to the victim's family.
Mark Eugene Pruitt, 49, pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims’ courtroom Thursday morning. The hearing came a little less than two weeks before Pruitt's jury trial was set to begin. The judge sentenced him to eight years in prison with some credit for the time he has already spent in jail.
Pruitt fatally shot 29-year-old Ronald Jason Adams, who went by his middle name and was a volunteer firefighter with the East Pulaski department as well as a lieutenant for the Sherwood Fire Department.
In January 2016, Adams was sent to Pruitt’s residence on Dortch Loop in response to a call about a man having a seizure. The firefighter also lived on Dortch Loop and was sent because he was the closest paramedic available.
Adams died after being shot inside the residence.
Adams’ family members, his fiancé and a few officials from the Sherwood Fire Department sat clustered together Thursday in the front two rows of courtroom waiting for Pruitt to stand before the judge. Before he did, Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson told the group that they should prepare for Pruitt to address them and say he was sorry.
After entering his plea, Pruitt, clad in an orange Pulaski County jail jumpsuit, turned to face Adams’ relatives and told them he’d like to apologize “from the bottom of my heart.” He repeated he was sorry, adding that he had “never hurt anybody before.”
Pruitt then said, “I’m going through some hard times, too,” before Sims cut him off.
Pruitt was ordered jailed by court order in October 2016 until he could undergo a mental evaluation at the State Hospital.
Pruitt was quoted in an interview with examiners at the hospital as saying he remembered waking up and seeing a man walk down the hallway toward his bedroom and thinking he was an “intruder.”
"I blacked out, and the next thing I remember is the flash of the gun going off," Pruitt was quoted as saying.
In the evaluation, doctors diagnosed Pruitt with cocaine-use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Pruitt’s wife, Tonja Jo Pruitt, told state examiners she called 911 the morning of the shooting because her husband was making a gurgling sound, was unresponsive and was bleeding from his mouth, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
She reportedly told the doctors that she went to open the garage to make it easier for paramedics to enter the home. Emergency medical personnel had gone into the bedroom when she heard a “boom, boom” and realized her husband had shot one of the first responders, she said.
After leaving the courtroom, Adams’ fiancé and career firefighter Jeannie DeMeyere said she learned of the plea deal 24 hours ago and is thankful they will be “spared the trauma” of going through a jury trial.
Adams’ mother, Phylis Stroud, seconded that sentiment, saying she’s very glad the ordeal is over.
“We can more forward, hopefully,” Stroud said.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.