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Drifter Killed Pace Student Because He "Wanted To"
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 3, 2008
Modified Sep 3, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 3, 2008
Modified Sep 3, 2008
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Disturbing details have emerged about the 22-year-old man who confessed to killing Pace University student Kevin Pravia. Among his disclosures, Jeromie Cancel said he watched the horror movie "Saw" after smothering a sleeping Pravia.
Apparently Pravia met Cancel, who had offered to sell drugs to him, in Union Square early Saturday morning. They went back to Pravia's apartment on West 15th Street in Chelsea. Pravia's roommate discovered her friend's body on Sunday.
When Cancel was being questioned about a different incident (his father called the police, to complain his son had stolen his Playstation early Tuesday), apparently he confessed to killing Pravia. Per the Times, "When Mr. Pravia fell asleep, Mr. Cancel said that he punched him in the face, tied a television cord around his neck, put a plastic bag in his mouth and suffocated him with a pillow."
Cancel's father Jesus Soto told the Post, "He's mentally imbalanced. He seemed off-balance. He didn't seem right," and said, "I called the cops, and when they pulled up ... he just turned to the cops and told them he just killed someone." According to the Daily News, Soto told reporters his son had drifted between cities--including a stint at a mental institution--before coming back to Queens and staying with him. And when reporters outside a precinct house asked Cancel why he did it, he yelled, "Because I wanted to. You got a problem with that?"
Pravia's neighbor mourned the loss to NY1, “The kid was only 19 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him. It’s just a drag. Gotta be real tough for the family. They sent him away to college, to get this kind of news.”
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Jeromie Cancel
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West 15th Street
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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