March 19, 2016
An Atlantic City man will spend 25 years behind bars after pleading guilty to the murder of his 64-year-old mother days after he was released from a 30-year prison sentence for another murder conviction in 1984.
According to prosecutors, 47-year-old Steven Pratt killed his mother Gwendolyn at her home on the morning of October 12, 2014, two days after his release from New Jersey State Prison.
Pratt pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter before Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury.
At the time of the incident, investigators said Gwendolyn Pratt was found dead of apparent head injuries. Her son was detained by police at the scene and an autopsy later determined that Pratt died as a result of homicide caused by massive blunt head injuries.
Steven Pratt had been held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility in lieu of $1 million cash bail and will now have to serve 85 percent of his sentence, 21 years and three months, before he becomes eligible for parole.
