Man Convicted Of Killing Boyfriend, Burning Corpse: Philly DA's Office

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia man was found guilty of killing his boyfriend then burning his body in 2022, earning life sentence in state prison.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office Monday said a jury has convicted Kylen Pratt, 23, of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and more for killing 20-year-old Naasire Johnson in 2022 in the city's Brewerytown section. Pratt and Johnson were in a romantic relationship at the time of Johnson's murder.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 17, 2022, Johnson ordered an Uber and went from his family's West Philadelphia home to Pratt's home on the 2900 block of Oxford Street.

Authorities said Pratt shot Johnson in the neck shortly after Johnson showed up at the home.

Pratt then took Johnson's body to a remote trail in Fairmount Park and set the corpse on fire, authorities said. Johnson's badly burned remains were discovered by two people later that afternoon. He could only be identified through a DNA analysis.

Working off of an anonymous tip, investigators began focusing on Pratt as a suspect.

After getting a warrant, 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.

Another search warrant for Pratt's home revealed carpet padding and hardwood flooring drenched in what was later identified as the victim's blood. Police also discovered a sizable portion of the carpeting that had recently been heavily bleached.

A 9mm semi-automatic crime gun was also found, which provided forensic evidence linking Pratt to the crime.

An analysis of the defendant's cell phone data also uncovered Google searches for news coverage of the discovery of Johnson's remains in addition to searches for "traits of a psychopath," "having sex with dead bodies," and "killing in cold blood."

Pratt was arrested on June 21, 2022, and convicted by a Philadelphia jury on Sept. 27.

Last week, he was sentenced to mandatory life in state incarceration without the possibility of parole, followed by a consecutive period of four-and-a-half to nine years.