WILKES COUNTY, N.C. — A man accused of killing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in Wilkes County was arrested Friday.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Outside the victims’ mobile home east of Wilkesboro, Eyewitness News saw sheriff’s deputies remove not only bags of evidence but two doors from inside the home. It was there deputies found the bodies of Kelly Pruitt and her son, Kevin Hurley, early Friday morning.
The sheriff said the 8-year-old was suffocated and his mother was stabbed to death.
Neighbors were shocked by the news.
“Just playing, running around like a normal little 8-year-old. He was adorable,” one neighbor said.
Deputies put out a BOLO for Pruitt's boyfriend, Jason Pardue. They finally spotted him at a convenience store in North Wilkesboro.
Pardue repeatedly apologized when Eyewitness News asked him about the deaths.
The sheriff believes Pardue killed the mother and son over the weekend. He said his deputies were called to the home on Tuesday for a welfare check. They talked to Pardue but said there were no signs of trouble. The sheriff now said the bodies had been hidden inside the mobile home.
“It is just a terrible, terrible tragedy that I'm sure has affected us all,” Wilkes County Sheriff Chris Shew said.
Deputies returned to the home Friday morning after someone filed a missing persons report.
Neighbors who knew the family are still in disbelief. The community is coming together, including where 8-year-old Kevin went to school.
“I know the school out there is devastated, too,” a neighbor said. “The principal sent out a prayer chain for everybody who goes to school out there."
Eyewitness News learned the couple only recently reunited because of an older daughter the two had together. The sheriff said she is safe.
WSOC
