GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett mother who stabbed her son to death before setting their apartment on fire told police she “could not take the stresses of life.”
Azaria Burton pleaded guilty to malice murder, felony murder and other charges connected to the murder of Jayveon Pruitt, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
A judge sentenced Burton to life in prison plus an additional five years.
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Channel 2 Action News reported last year on Burton’s arrest after Gwinnett police responded to a fire at her apartment off Springs Lane and found her son’s body. He died just weeks before his sixth birthday.
Jayveon’s paternal grandmother previously told Channel 2 Action News said she could have helped Burton and her grandson if she knew there were issues or that he was in danger.
“We’re a phone call away,” she said. “She knows if nobody helped her, she knows we would.”
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But the prosecution said Burton told police she “could not take the stresses of life.”
Investigators determined that her son had been stabbed 22 times in the chest before Burton started a fire. Prosecutors said Burton spread a flammable gel she purchased the day before all over their apartment from her son’s bedroom to the living room and laundry area.
Burton sent her boyfriend a text on the morning of Jayveon’s death that ended with “I love you … bye!” according to the evidence.
The district attorney’s office said Burton showed no emotion before she entered her guilty plea.
“This is not motherhood as it should be,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Mothers generally protect their young. This was a senseless murder of a child. Our condolences are with the father and others who are impacted by this crime.”
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