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Victim's Father Tells Giggling Killer, "See You In Hell!"
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 23, 2010
Modified Dec 23, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 23, 2010
Modified Dec 23, 2010
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Yesterday, Jeromie Cancel was sentenced to 25 years for killing a 19-year-old Pace University student in 2008. Cancel was found guilty of strangling Kevin Pravia in Pravia's Chelsea apartment—Cancel also admitted to staying in the apartment to watch a horror movie— and his murder victim's family were aghast at his boisterous behavior during the sentencing. Pravia's brother yelled at Cancel, who had been giggling, "I'll f---ing kill you, mother-f---er!" Cancel replied, "Come see me on Riker's Island!" which led to Pravia's father to say, "I'll see you in hell!"
Cancel, described as a sociopathic drifter, met the student in Union Square Park. Pravia invited him back to his apartment; Cancel initially stole Pravia's electronics equipment while Pravia slept, but then he returned to kill Pravia. Pravia's roommate discovered his body. Cancel was picked up by the police when his father said he stole his Playstation, and Cancel bragged to a police officer that he killed Pravia. While in jail, Cancel got a tattoo of the movie Saw, which he thought watched at the time of the murder (but it was actually Hostel).
At the sentencing, the prosecutor read a statement from Pravia's 12-year-old sister, "I miss waking Kevin up on Christmas morning and having to sing five Christmas songs to finally get him up. The only way I can describe this man is as a monster. All I hope for now is that horrible man gets life in prison. I hope he never gets to see any of his family members like I can't see Kevin any more."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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