Murderer’s Welcome Home Becomes Murderous, Sent Back To Prison After 30-Year Sentence

Though it is sad to say, there are numerous reports of ex-convicts who end up going back to prison because they didn’t learn their lesson. Whether it’s committing the same crime or a new crime altogether, The Inquisitr has reported such stories several times in the past. Probably one of the most popular examples is O.J. Simpson, who was part of one of the biggest murder trials within the last decade. He was later arrested for battery and burglary, and finally went to prison after being found guilty of a Las Vegas robbery.

Now there are reports of a man going back to prison after spending 30 years behind bars for murder.

According to an article by Press of Atlantic City and followed up by IJReview, Steven Pratt, a 45-year-old man who served 30 years in prison as a convicted murderer, faces murder charges for a second time. He was arrested on Sunday after allegedly beating his own mother to death in her two-story home in the 1800 block of McKinley Avenue at 6:29 a.m. Police found Gwendolyn Pratt, the 64-year-old victim, dead from apparent head injuries. After an autopsy was performed by the state Medical Examiner’s Office later that day, it was determined that Gwendolyn died from massive blunt force trauma to the head.

As for Steven Pratt, he was taken to the Atlantic County Jail on a $1 million cash bail set by state Superior Court Judge Noah Bronkesh.

By what other people living within McKinley Avenue – where the crime took place – say about Gwendolyn Pratt and the neighborhood, crime in general may be minimal to somewhat non-existent. First, neighbors described Gwendolyn as a good neighbor who valued her privacy and took the bus to work at 6 a.m. each day. They also described her as impeccably dressed. As for the McKinley Avenue neighborhood, it was described as a quiet part of Atlantic City, even in the summertime. Children would draw hearts and their initials in the wet cement of the sidewalk in front of Pratt’s home.

Finally, it is sad that Steven Pratt would even do such a thing to his own mother, especially due to the fact that he hasn’t been free since he was 15. Back in 1984, he shot and killed his next-door neighbor, Michael Anderson, in the Carver Hall apartment building. He was tried as an adult, and in 1986, he was convicted by jury of murder and sentenced to 30 years.

What are your views on this tragedy pertaining Steven Pratt, a newly released convict tasting freedom for the first time in 30 years, just to commit the same type of crime that landed him in prison in the first place? Please let everyone know in the comments below.

[Images via Press of Atlantic City]