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Philadelphia resident Khyree Pratt, 24, was convicted on Monday (September 22) for his role as the gunman in a 2022 murder-for-hire scheme in Beacon. A jury found Pratt guilty of two counts of murder, conspiracy, and criminal possession of a weapon after a five-day trial before Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before reaching a verdict.
Pratt was hired to kill 32-year-old Lionel Pittman on May 14, 2022, in Forrestal Heights. According to Mid Hudson News, Beacon resident Naije Perrette organized the plot, paying Pratt and his driver to carry out the murder. Perrette led Pratt and his accomplices to Pittman's location, where Pratt shot Pittman twice in the head and once in the torso.
Pratt was apprehended in Pennsylvania following a high-speed chase in September 2024 and extradited to New York to face charges. Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi stated, "This verdict sends out a clear message, those who plot violence and those who carry it out will be held fully accountable."
In total, four men were arrested in connection with Pittman's murder: Pratt, Naije Perrette, 24-year-old Zyree Downing from Middletown, Delaware, and Jarell Brown, 32, from Beacon. Pratt is scheduled for sentencing on November 24, 2025.