Man blames girlfriend's threesome for murder
Tuesday, Sep. 2 2008 @ 6:28PM
The 22-year-old who allegedly murdered Pace University student Kevin Pravia over the weekend is Jeromie Cancel, of Queens, NY.
The New York Post, citing police sources, reports that Cancel "sat down in the victim's apartment and watched the movie 'Saw' just moments after smothering the teenager in his sleep."
Cancel allegedly confessed to the crime. He may have told his father, Jesus Soto, and the cops who came to arrest him. Cancel claims he bought drugs from Kevin Pravia, but police don't believe him. Still, why Pravia and Cancel returned to the student's Chelsea apartment together remains a mystery. Pravia was gay, but there was no evidence of sexual contact between him and his alleged killer.
After Cancel watched the movie, he allegedly took electronic items from the residence Pravia shared with roommate Josephine Madonna.
Cancel was arrested at his dad's home. Jesus Soto told the Post that Cancel came to his door and said 'I just killed someone.' Soto continued, "He had no remorse. He had a big smile. Then, he told me again he killed someone."
Soto called the cops. When they arrived, Soto says his son "just turned to cops and told them he just killed someone."
Jeromie Cancel's father also told the New York paper that his son is "mentally imbalanced."
On MySpace, Jeromie Cancel called himself "puertoricothug352." Where the profile asked who he'd like to meet, Cancel wrote, "THE DEVIL."
Cancel titled his profile "TEARS OF A KING," and his headline read "F.T.W. AND THE PPL IN IT" -- for you text-message challenged folks out there, "fuck the world and the people in it."
All of Cancel's photos showed a young man with a hard look, playing at gangsta poses. In two he appeared to be wearing fangs -- which might make sense, as he was a member of a "Vampire clan" MySpace game, in addition to mafia and mobster games. Other photos showed new tats, one so fresh it still glistened with ointment.
Cancel's last log-in was August 20, 2008, and he had only one friend left on his profile, though comments posted to the page went back to 2006. He'd apparently been living in Florida for a time prior to his arrival in New York.
Cancel's 'general' interest on MySpace were simply "THE DEVIL." He also posted "THE DEVIL" beside 'Heroes' on his profile.
Maybe Jeromie Cancel was sending a signal. Perhaps he had gone off the deep end and he knew it. The killing is still strange, for a robbery -- there is something deeply pathological behind the bag in the throat, the strangling, and the smothering. Could Cancel have been a fledgling serial killer? At the moment, only he and "THE DEVIL" know. [New York Post]
This makes me sick just to read it. Kevin seemed like a sweet kid, gone at the hands of someone that seems like, if you'll pardon my anger, a complete waste of space. I'm so tired of reading stories like this over and over again.
Posted 09/02/2008 at 09:12:58 PMKevin was a sweet kid, he's the last person I know who I'd have expected something like this to happen to. It's just so needless, and counter-logic. There simply is no punishment harsh enough for someone who could do this.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 12:40:30 AMKevin was the sweetest guy ever. Funny, friendly, loved by all. He was the last person I would ever expect this to happen to. There was no reason for any of this to happen. I can't stop thinking about him. I just wish he knew how much I loved him.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 10:39:33 AMI looked up the movie "Saw" and it creeps me out to think that Cancel watched this after killing Kevin. From wikipedia: "Saw kick started the 'torture porn' genre." The movie is about a "jigsaw killer" who cuts pieces of skin from his victims in the shape of a jigsaw. Cancel was deeply pathological indeed and may have been fantasizing about his first kill for a while. It's also interesting that this killer and the Natural Born Killer kid that you wrote about both watched "killer" movies within minutes of their kills. Is this a trend?
Posted 09/03/2008 at 07:29:00 PMI forgot to say, thank you for writing again Steve! I stopped following for a while when it seemed like you were winding out of true crime writing, but I went back and read your new crime blog from the start. I recognize a lot of the cases from last year that you have followed up on and I appreciate the follow up. These people's stories live in my head like characters from a book and it is very interesting to know how their trials progress. I'm glad you are finally getting paid to blog! Keep up the good work.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 07:33:50 PMSaw was the fave movie of Steven Kazmierczak, the NIU killer.
Cancel also robbed his father. He sounds like a sociopath.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 10:39:48 PMMy daughter was murdered 6 years ago in Queens in the same manner. Something (I won't say what at this time) was stuffed in her mouth and she was strangled. I sometimes think the murderer is a serial killer but the police pooh-pooh that. Cancel would have only been 16 years old at the time but since he's been under psychiatric care it's a possibility that he started his spree at a young age.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:59:00 PMDo you ever follow up on crimes? Does any one know where he lived in 2002? He didn't live in Ridgewood with his father as his father said he had no contact with him for 12 years. You have my email address.
Obviously, this guy looks for easy targets and then takes advantage of them. When the story first broke, I wondered why any person would invite someone over that they do not know. People can't be so trusting, but I guess he was drinking which may have impaired his good judgement. I am not shocked to find out that Kevin was gay only because I figured the reason he came back to his room with this scum was for sex or drugs. Regardless, Jeromie probably tricked Kevin into thinking he also was gay knowing he would kill and rob him. This guy obviously has no heart and by what is written about him, is pure evil. No one deserves this, Kevin seemed like a nice person. Lock this monster up. He shouldn't see daylight again.
Posted 09/05/2008 at 10:57:10 AMI knew Jeromie his sister used to live on the apartment on top of mine. It makes me sad cause Jeromie was a nice person. He didnt have a great life he was always alone, he grew up on his own. His father should not call himself a father, when he doesnt know how to be one. A father would not let strangers raise his kid. I am not saying that what Jeromie did is right, but when someone never had anyone to show them love how do you expect that person to be. The streets are the ones who raised him. I considered Jeromie my friend, and I did what I could to show him some people do care. And that when he told me his life story which brought me to tears. Its a shame that this world dont try to make a difference for kids who grew up with no one in their corner. Its a shame that one young individual would take the life of another individual. At the same time I see if in the Philly news everyday.
Posted 02/17/2009 at 02:57:15 PM