To her family and friends, Patience Hope Pittman was a source of laughter and love. The 21-year-old mother, daughter, and sister had a beautiful smile and a confident spirit that touched many lives. Originally from Lumberton, North Carolina, Patience had recently moved to Winfield, Alabama. She was a talented and proud nail technician who had joined the team at a local spa in April and quickly became a favorite with her clients.
Above all, she treasured being a mother to her two young children, Danny and Dallas, who were the light of her life. Her love for them was unmatched, and she was dedicated to creating memories with the people she loved most.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, October 3, 2026, that life filled with love and laughter was violently cut short. Inside her home on Tahoe Road in Winfield, an argument broke out between Patience and her husband, 22-year-old Mason Thomas Parnell. According to court filings, a witness inside the residence heard Parnell threaten his wife. The witness then saw a horrific scene unfold in the kitchen: Parnell allegedly kicked Patience as she lay on the floor and shot her multiple times as she pleaded for him to stop. Investigators later found multiple spent 9mm shell casings at the scene. The couple’s two children, ages one and six, were in the home at the time of the shooting.
After the shooting, Parnell forced a cousin who lived with the family to drive him and the two children away from the scene at gunpoint. He kept a firearm pointed at the relative during the long drive to North Carolina, where both he and Patience were originally from. They drove to the home of Parnell’s parents, and after Parnell told them what he had done, they contacted local authorities. Around 5:30 a.m., North Carolina law enforcement called the Winfield Police Department to report that a man had called in and confessed to killing his wife.
The Columbus County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina reported that a captain maintained communication with Parnell while coordinating with law enforcement in both states. Parnell was eventually taken into custody by deputies in Robeson County, North Carolina. The two children and the family member who had been forced to drive were found safe. Winfield Police Chief Brett Burleson described the case as unlike any he had seen in his years of law enforcement, noting the added tragedy that one of the children Parnell fled with was not his own.
Investigators from Winfield traveled to North Carolina to interview people who knew the couple and to arrange for Parnell’s extradition. He was returned to Alabama and booked into the Marion County Jail. Prosecutors initially charged him with murder. In a court motion filed on October 11, the Marion County District Attorney’s office outlined the chilling eyewitness account and noted Parnell’s confession to North Carolina authorities.
Prosecutors successfully requested that Parnell’s preliminary hearing be combined with a pretrial detention hearing under Aniah’s Law, which allows judges to deny bail to defendants charged with certain violent crimes. The court documents indicated his charges could be elevated to capital murder. A hearing was scheduled for October 22, 2026. As of that month, Parnell was being held in jail awaiting further court proceedings.
Patience’s family and community were left with broken hearts. Her colleagues at the spa where she worked were shocked by the news, remembering her as a professional who did beautiful work and was loved by her clients. Her family held a visitation and funeral service for her in her hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina, where she was laid to rest at Floyd Memory Gardens. Her obituary remembered her as one of the most loving and caring people one could ever meet, whose beautiful spirit would be carried on in the hearts of her two precious children.
