A College Park man was sentenced Friday to life in prison, plus 50 years in the death of a 12-year-old boy forced to hold paint cans for hours in the summer heat as punishment.
Omar Andrew Pitts, 32, pleaded guilty to murder, felony murder, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated assault and cruelty to children in the death of Jay’tavious Mahone, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said.
Jay’tavious, the younger brother of Pitts’ girlfriend, was forced to stand outside several hours on June 17, 2010, and hold paint buckets as punishment for taking his shoes off, according to investigators. The boy was also forced to wear a dress and makeup during his punishment, the DA’s office said.
“Young Jay’tavious frequently complained of thirst and fatigue and eventually collapsed and passed out after several hours in the sun,” the DA’s office said in an emailed statement Friday.
Pitts then kicked the boy repeatedly, leaving bumps and bruises all over his body, according to investigators. Around 3:40 that afternoon, police and paramedics were called to the 300 block of Camelot Drive after it was reported a child had a heat stroke.
The neighbor at the apartment complex told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that day he saw a man kicking the boy in the head. Hakim Deen said he videotaped the assault from an upstairs window, but did not expect the boy to die from the injuries. Deen said Fulton investigators made a copy of his video.
“He was just kicking the boy, kicking the boy up in the head,” Deen said. “Eight or nine times, he kicked him. The boy got up and then passed out.”
Jay’tavious was taken to South Fulton Medical Center, where he died. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined the boy died from blunt force trauma.
Pitts and the victim’s sister, Sabrina Powell, were arrested immediately following the boy’s death. Pitts, who has remained in the Fulton County jail since his arrest, was previously facing the death penalty.
Powell remained in jail Friday night awaiting trial.
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