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Man convicted of murder in deaths of 2 roommates sentenced

Posted March 22, 2016 7:00 am

The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) - A graduate student from Ohio has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2012 stabbing deaths of two Chicago roommates.

DeJuan Pratt was sentenced Tuesday to natural life plus 30 years by Judge Charles Burns after being found guilty of murder, armed robbery and arson in the killings of 64-year-old Gary Brown and 48-year-old Chun Xiao Lee.

The 27-year-old Pratt was arrested at O'Hare International Airport after returning from Las Vegas. Authorities said he used the victims' credit cards for airfare and lodging at a high-end hotel.

The bodies of Brown, a former Kankakee County prosecutor, and Lee were found in a bedroom by firefighters responding to the blaze in their apartment.

Assistant Public Defender Julie Koehler says Pratt graduated Central State University near Dayton. He moved to Chicago and enrolled in a master's program at Roosevelt University.

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