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09/03/2008


Killer of Gay Teen's Gloating Explanation: 'Because I Wanted To'

Jeromie Cancel, the killer of gay NYC student Kevin Pravia in his Chelsea apartment over the weekend has shown no remorse over the killing following his confession:

Cancel"Cancel, 22, brutalized 19-year-old Kevin Pravia, sat near the honor student's corpse to watch the horror movie 'Saw' and then bragged about the murder to his father, the sources said. Asked why he did it as he was marched out of the 10th Precinct stationhouse Tuesday night, Cancel shouted, 'Because I wanted to. You got a problem with that?' Cancel's father, Jesus Soto, said his son had turned up to boast after the killing. 'All the time he was gloating, like it didn't mean nothing to him,' Soto said, recounting Cancel's bizarre appearance at his Queens apartment. 'He was not remorseful, like he was happy with what he did,' said Soto, 40. 'He had this big smile on him.'"

Pravia was found by his roommate Josephine Madonna, at his apartment on 15th street in Chelsea when she returned from a weekend trip. Pravia was dead, a cord around his neck and a plastic bag shoved down his throat. Cancel stole a cell phone, iPod, and laptop before leaving the apartment. According to the NYDN, "Cancel has been arrested four times in Florida, including for drug possession and for stealing a car, officials said. He was charged with murder and manslaughter in Pravia's death."

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Posted 8:03 AM EST by Andy in Crime, New York, News | Permalink

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Comments

  1. Finally a parent who doesn't say "not my baby!" over and over. His father sounds scared of him.

    This kid needs to go straight into a woodchipper, preferably feet first.

    Posted by: Yeek | Sep 3, 2008 8:32:38 AM


  2. Have fun getting ass-raped you sick fuck!!! Burn in Hell, motherfucker!

    Posted by: JerzeeMike | Sep 3, 2008 8:37:55 AM


  3. Buh-bye now.

    Posted by: The Milkman | Sep 3, 2008 8:43:21 AM


  4. Yea, he just solidified where he's spending the rest of his life. His life is now "cancel"ed. HA... HAHA... HAHAHA.

    Posted by: JayDub | Sep 3, 2008 8:58:46 AM


  5. What an awful, awful end to the story (I guess it isn't the end until after his hearing & sentencing). As I was reading the story through the day yesterday and telling my friends about it, I just kept thinking that this guy must be crazy since it sounded like he had no real motive to kill.

    So saddened by this.

    Posted by: Gabriel | Sep 3, 2008 9:45:59 AM


  6. The poor kid...this is why whenever possible always try to travel with someone when you're drinking..every year or so there is a report like this, I remember the exact same thing happened to a student in queens a few years back, he left a party drunk by himself and was found dead the next day..and of course the St. Guillen case. I can't believe he watched "saw" with the body in the same room..that is beyond sick.

    Posted by: daveynyc | Sep 3, 2008 9:55:07 AM


  7. See you in hell you motherfucker!

    Posted by: Dawnell_do | Sep 3, 2008 10:03:55 AM


  8. I am against the death penalty...but hopefully one of his cellmates will whack him in prison.

    Posted by: peterparker | Sep 3, 2008 10:57:19 AM


  9. I'm sorry Kevin Pravia's life ended so soon and without reason. But let this be a warning to all those students moving to new cities this fall: Be careful who you bring home. Be careful who you befriend. Drugs and alcohol ruin your perception of things, and your ability to defend yourself.

    I'm praying for Kevin's family and friends, and for Jeromie Cancel, too. He is obviously very sick and needed help a long time ago.

    Posted by: JTlvr | Sep 3, 2008 11:16:48 AM


  10. As a New Yorker, he did everything wrong... drunk/drugged in the street, buying drugs in the park, bringing a stranger home and falling asleep. While he certainly didn't deserve this, he didn't do too much to help the situation.

    Posted by: mike | Sep 3, 2008 11:48:19 AM


  11. What's with you retarded NY homos???! You of all people ought to always arm yourselves(gun,taser?, pepper spray). May this psychotic soul face ferocious justice.

    Posted by: nikko | Sep 3, 2008 12:02:14 PM


  12. I'm not even able to ask "Why?" anymore with some human behavior.

    There are still two missing young males (not identified as gay) - one last seen at a club here in suburban Atlanta and another vanished after leaving a bar in uptown Charlotte. Both disappeared within weeks of each other last year.

    I wonder when and how this guy made his way from FL to NYC.

    Posted by: ATLSteve | Sep 3, 2008 12:23:45 PM


  13. Interesting that Andy describes Cancel as Pravia's "killer" and not his "alleged killer."

    I guess Andy is sinking to new lows of cut-and-paste journalism and libel.

    Posted by: Marc in Chicago | Sep 3, 2008 1:06:40 PM


  14. "Interesting that Andy describes Cancel as Pravia's "killer" and not his "alleged killer"

    I suppose it could be interesting (and yet still accurate) if Cancel had not described himself as Pravia's killer aka a confession. We're still looking for Jonbenet's killer, however, perhaps your interests would be better served there?

    Posted by: Giovanni | Sep 3, 2008 1:21:00 PM


  15. y'know, i got up this morning and meditated. then i did yoga. and still, all i can think of here is 'strap him up spread eagle at rikers and pass out broomsticks.'

    then give out viagra and turn the other way.

    i just don't understsand people anymore. i really try but i really don't.

    Posted by: basis4insanity | Sep 3, 2008 1:49:17 PM


  16. "What's with you retarded NY homos???! You of all people ought to always arm yourselves(gun,[TASER]?, pepper spray). May this psychotic soul face ferocious justice."

    Unfortunately, NYC has a little problem with Constitutional freedom. It's illegal to carry self-defense tools, such as guns, in the city.

    However, if you conceal it well enough, you could get away with ignoring the law in favor of your right to defend yourself. But be prepared to face the consequences should you ever have to defend yourself...or be prepared to risk not waiting around for the police.

    Posted by: PatrickPatrick | Sep 3, 2008 2:18:30 PM


  17. BASIS4INSANITY: I wonder what the rate of mental illness is for the poor & urban compared to the larger population. I'd bet it's pretty high.

    The poor, the mentally ill, the homeless can easily fall through the cracks in a big city like NYC. Nobody wants to see them, until they act out and do something we can't believe.


    Posted by: JTlvr | Sep 3, 2008 2:19:16 PM


  18. Another argument for the death penalty. And, yes, I would be first in line to pull the switch.

    Posted by: mike | Sep 3, 2008 2:25:48 PM


  19. Dear Mark in Chicago and Giovanni:

    When someone publicly confesses to killing another person, they cease to be "alleged". They become "the confessed killer" until otherwise different. It's Journalism 101. Don't rag on Andy. He got it right.

    Posted by: mike | Sep 3, 2008 2:28:39 PM


  20. Dear Mark in Chicago and Giovanni:

    When someone publicly confesses to killing another person, they cease to be "alleged". They become "the confessed killer" until otherwise different. It's Journalism 101. Don't rag on Andy. He got it right.

    Posted by: mike | Sep 3, 2008 2:28:53 PM


  21. And now the State of New York will be required to spend several million-dollars defending him while the City of New York spends several more millions prosecuting him since his (tax-dollar-paid) lawyer insists he's insane, not responsible, and his "confession" is invalid. After several additional millions-worth in appeals he spend the rest of his life in relative "comfort" at the taxpayers expense.

    A fair judge, and honest jury and a stout tree-limb...

    Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Sep 3, 2008 2:37:56 PM


  22. Smells a little MK-Ultra to me

    Posted by: R | Sep 3, 2008 3:06:41 PM


  23. Funny how the homophobe here and the one arrested in the Boston bashing are both LATIN-O. What the f. is with the Latin-o community that they think beating gays is ok? Most of them are a bunch of homo's on the down low and this is how they deal with the fact that they've sucked a few dicks.

    Posted by: Joe | Sep 3, 2008 4:45:20 PM


  24. Joe:

    I really don't see what being Latino has to do with this particular killing. The killer is obviously a sociopath. This isn't a run of the mill gay bashing. This is a cold, calculated, sadistic murder to which the killer exhibits callous disregard and no remorse. It's the textbook definition of sociopathy. And actually living in New York, I can tell you that your average US born Latino kid in this city is no more homophobic than the equivalent white.

    Posted by: Jim | Sep 3, 2008 9:39:50 PM


  25. I disagree - all that machismo crap so prevalent in their culture forces those of them who are gay to turn their self-hatred at being gay outwards towards others.

    Posted by: joe | Sep 4, 2008 5:52:36 AM


  26. Most Brazilians I know, and the one I've been dating for almost a year, do not consider themselves Latino.

    The loser arrested in Boston is from Brazil there Joe and how stupid for you to say "most (Latinos) are a bunch of homos on the down low"....get a fucking clue man.

    And your posts smack just a tab bit racist with your Latin-o shit - grow up.

    Posted by: Derek | Sep 4, 2008 10:19:38 AM


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