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Pace Student Found Strangled in Apartment
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 1, 2008
Modified Sep 1, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 1, 2008
Modified Sep 1, 2008
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The Pace University community is reeling after news that a student was found strangled in his Chelsea apartment. According to the Daily News, 19-year-old Kevin Pravia was found by his roommate yesterday afternoon. Police arrived at 239 West 15th Street around 6 p.m., and Pravia was "strangled with an electrical cord that was still wrapped around his neck" and his "mouth was stuffed with plastic."
A neighbor told NY1, "I was at home last night and I heard somebody screaming in the hallway and I opened up my door and his roommate was yelling, 'he's dead, he's dead.'" The neighbor also said Pravia and the roommate had moved into the apartment several weeks ago and that the police suggested Pravia could have died on Friday. There were no signs of a break-in, and police are not calling it a murder yet. Pravia had been on the honor roll and Dean's List at Pace, which issued a statement of sympathy to his family and friends.
Other residents were shocked: One told the News, "Me and my girlfriend only moved in yesterday and this is not what we expected. We were told this is a really nice neighborhood. I can't believe this," while an NYU student said, "I can't let my folks know about this. The reason they let me live here is because it's supposed to be so safe."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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