A 26-year-old North Little Rock man who told authorities he "did what he had to do" has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting a man and stealing his car.
Deshun Pruitt was arrested shortly before midnight Halloween 2020 behind the wheel of the stolen 2013 black Dodge Charger speeding away from the Fairfax Crossing apartments, 5926 McCain Park Place.
Pulaski County sheriff's deputies had been called to the apartments in North Little Rock's McCalmont community to investigate a shooting and found Christopher Dewayne Maxwell, 32, on the floor of his apartment with several gunshot wounds.
Maxwell told investigators he'd been shot by a stranger in a red sweater, court files show.
Interviewed about a week after the shooting, following surgery and his hospital discharge, Maxwell told deputies he knew Pruitt from the area, saying he'd befriended the younger man and that they'd shared marijuana previously.
Just before he was shot, Maxwell said, he'd just gotten home and saw Pruitt around his apartment and told investigators that Pruitt was acting oddly. Maxwell said he was walking upstairs to his apartment when he heard a gunshot and was struck in the lower back. Maxwell said he ran upstairs and into his apartment where he locked the door.
Maxwell told investigators he was not armed and didn't do or say anything to provoke Pruitt, stating that he didn't know Pruitt had shot him. Maxwell said a man he knew as Joseph had been with him when he was shot but that Joseph ran when the gunfire started. Investigators never found Joseph, according to court records.
Pruitt was wearing a red hoodie when deputies stopped him, and told the arresting officer that he "did what he had to do." In an interview with investigators that night, Pruitt said he'd gone to Maxwell's home to buy marijuana, describing how the past couple of times he had bought marijuana from Maxwell that the older man had acted nervously as if Maxwell was up to something, court records show.
Pruitt said that night he'd met with Maxwell and a man he didn't know, telling investigators Maxwell had paused twice while walking up the stairs, the second time turning to look at Pruitt "as if he was going to do something." Pruitt said he pulled his gun and started shooting, describing how he saw Maxwell stumble forward, court filings show.
Further questioned, Pruitt said he never saw a gun and that Maxwell had not threatened him, but that he "just knew that Maxwell was up to something," court records show. He said he ran and took Maxwell's car because there were too many people around his car.
Sentencing papers filed Thursday show that Pruitt, jailed since the shooting, pleaded guilty as charged to first-degree battery, aggravated robbery and theft in exchange for the 15-year sentence imposed by Circuit Judge Karen Whatley in a plea agreement negotiated by deputy prosecutor Justin Brown and public defender Christen Carter. Pruitt will have to serve 10 years before he can qualify for parole.
At the time, Pruitt was awaiting trial on a criminal mischief charge over accusations he had vandalized Ark Crete Block Co. at 1600 E. 5th St., in North Little Rock.
According to an arrest report, police had found him on the roof of the building damaging the property while trying to break in. The charges were dropped following his guilty plea.