In the early morning hours of February 17, 2022, 20-year-old Naasire Johnson took an Uber from his family's home in West Philadelphia to the Brewerytown residence of his romantic partner, Kylen Pratt. Shortly after his arrival, Pratt, who was 23 at the time, shot Johnson in the neck, killing him. The motive, as later described by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, was a hate crime; Pratt did not want anyone to know about his romantic involvement with Johnson.
Following the murder, Pratt transported Johnson's body to a remote trail in Fairmount Park, where he then set the body on fire. Later that afternoon, two people discovered the severely burned remains. The body was in such a state that authorities could only identify Johnson through DNA analysis. His grandmother had reported him missing the week prior and had provided police with his toothbrush and comb for DNA comparison after a body was found along Kelly Drive.
An anonymous tip led investigators to focus on Kylen Pratt as a suspect. A warrant for his cellphone records linked him to Johnson at the time of the murder and also placed him in Fairmount Park. A subsequent search of Pratt's home on the 2900 block of Oxford Street revealed Johnson's blood had soaked through the carpet padding to the hardwood floor, and a part of the carpet had been heavily bleached in an attempt to conceal the evidence. Police also recovered a 9mm semi-automatic handgun that was forensically linked to the crime. Further analysis of Pratt's cellphone uncovered disturbing Google searches, including 'traits of a psychopath,' 'having sex with dead bodies,' and 'killing in cold blood,' as well as searches for news coverage of the discovery of Johnson's remains.
Kylen Pratt was arrested on June 21, 2022. On September 27, 2024, a Philadelphia jury convicted him of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and possession of an instrument of crime. He received a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional consecutive sentence of 4.5 to 9 years for the other charges.
