A suspected killer will testify against another man in two murder cases in exchange for a plea deal that would give him 20 years in prison.
Christopher Pratt, 31, pleaded guilty to the March 2006 killing of Darice Knowles, a 22-year-old originally from the Bahamas, after leading officers to a site in late July in the 4000 block of State Road 524 in Cocoa where her body was buried.
The state says Pratt and a companion were involved in the slaying because they thought Knowles might be talking to police about another killing — a robbery in February 2006 in the 500 block of Cocoa’s South Georgia Avenue that resulted in the death of Willie Parker.
According to police documents, Pratt and the other man shot Parker while trying to rob him. The other suspect, who is in jail facing charges in connection with Parker’s death, is not being identified because he hasn’t been charged in the Knowles case.
The state is waiting for the results of a DNA test first.
Knowles moved from the Bahamas and was staying with Pratt in Cocoa when she went missing four years ago. Her family contacted police weeks after her disappearance when they failed to reach her.
