Man Sentenced to Life for Killing Gay Lover and Burning Body
Philadelphia judge issues the sentence after a jury found Kylen Pratt guilty of first-degree murder for killing 20-year-old Naasire Johnson.
A Philadelphia jury found Kylen Pratt guilty of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and possession of an instrument of crime in the killing of 20-year-old Naasire Johnson on Sept. 27.
Three days later, Judge Giovanni Campbell sentenced the 23-year-old to a mandatory life sentence in state prison, without the possibility of parole, followed by a consecutive sentence of four-and-a-half to nine years.
Prosecutors claimed that Pratt, who was involved romantically with Johnson while also dating women, had killed the 20-year-old to conceal their relationship.
In the early morning hours of February 17, 2022, Johnson procured an Uber and traveled from his family’s West Philadelphia residence to Pratt’s home in the city’s Brewerytown neighborhood. Shortly upon arriving, Pratt shot Johnson in the neck, killing him. He transported Johnson’s body to a remote trail in nearby Fairmount Park and set the corpse on fire.
Johnson’s remains were discovered later that day, and the body was identified through DNA analysis.
Working off an anonymous tip, detectives focused on Pratt as a suspect. Police accessed Pratt’s cell detail records and were able to place him with Johnson at the time of the murder and in Fairmount Park.
An analysis of Pratt’s cell phone data uncovered Google searches for news coverage of the discovery of Johnson’s remains, in addition to searches for the phrases “traits of a psychopath,” “having sex with dead bodies,” and “killing in cold blood.”
A separate search warrant for Pratt’s home uncovered carpet padding and hardwood flooring drenched in what was later identified as Johnson’s blood.
Police also discovered a sizable portion of the carpeting had been heavily bleached. Police also recovered a 9-millimeter semi-automatic gun from the residence, which provided forensic evidence linking the weapon to Johnson’s murder.
At the time of Pratt’s arrest, Nassire Johnson’s grandmother, Cynthia, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that she believed her grandson was the victim of a hate crime, and that the killer should go to prison for life.
“Make no mistake: The murder of Naasire Johnson was a hate crime. Kylen Pratt did not want anyone to know of his romantic involvement with the victim,” Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope said in a statement.
“These types of crimes are not just individual tragedies. They infect entire communities,” Minister Sultan Hakeem Pitts, of Interfaith Community, said in a statement. “LGBTQIA people, especially Black and Brown people, are disproportionately impacted by these hate crimes, causing our community profound and lasting mental health challenges.
“And while this moment does bring some small form of closure, no sentence can fully heal the pain caused by Naasire’s tragic death. He was and is a full person and more than just a name, with love, with light, with intelligence, and with potential. His death has left an indelible mark upon our hearts.”
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