CHICAGO: Ohio man charged in West Rogers Park double slaying
Chicago Tribune
An Ohio man has been charged with killing a former Kankakee County prosecutor and his roommate last month, then setting a fire to conceal the deaths, Chicago police said this morning.
Chicago police detectives arrested Dejuan Pratt as he arrived to O’Hare International Airport Monday, authorities said.
Pratt, of the 800 block of North Bernhard Road in Columbus, Ohio, was charged late Tuesday with double counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery and unlawful possession of a credit card in the Aug. 28 slayings of Gary Brown, 64, and Chun Xiao Lee, 48, according to police.
Pratt was also charged with aggravated identity theft, identity theft between $2,000 and $10,000, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated arson.
After slaying the couple, police said Pratt escaped in Lee’s car and used credit cards stolen from both victims. Separate police sources said the suspect used the credit cards to finance a spending spree in Las Vegas.
The pair were found lying side-by-side on a bed, wrapped in blankets, in the bedroom of a third-floor apartment in the 6400 block of North Sacramento Avenue, police said.
Officers found a melted gasoline container and other canisters with flammable liquids.
Both Brown and Lee died from multiple stab wounds and cuts in homicides, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined.
Brown was an attorney who worked as a prosecutor and city attorney in Kankakee. He once pitched in the minor leagues for the Montreal Expos. About a year ago, Brown moved into the apartment on North Sacramento, where Lee lived. Brown needed a place to live and Lee’s roommate had moved out, according to Brown’s ex-wife.
Authorities said that Pratt was also a recent roommate of both victims.
Pratt didn’t have a criminal record in Cook County, but had several arrests in his native Ohio, including one for contempt of court/failure to comply in Greene County just three days after the slayings, according to online court records.
He is expected to appear before a judge later today.
Tribune reporters Todd Lighty and William Lee contributed.
