MAN CONFESSES TO PACE STUDENT'S DEATH

MAN CONFESSES TO PACE STUDENT'S DEATH

By MURRAY WEISS and LARRY CELONA

September 2, 2008 --

A 22-year-old Queens man has confessed to killing a Pace University student, who was found strangled in his Chelsea apartment Sunday, police sources said today.

The unidentified suspect told cops that he choked and robbed victim Kevin Pravia, 19, after meeting him in Union Square at about 6 a.m. Sunday and accompanying him back to his home.

The suspect allegedly told investigators that he bought drugs from Pravia before they went to the apartment - though police sources said they doubt the drug-buy claim.

Exactly why they went back to the apartment was unclear. But after arriving there and hanging out for a while, Pravia fell asleep, the suspect told cops.

That when he allegedly tried to rob the student. The suspect told cops that he punched the sleeping teen, put an electrical cord around his neck, stuffed a plastic bag in his mouth and strangled him.

He then allegedly made off with a cell phone, iPod and lap top, which was later sold on the street. Police sources said that the cell phone has been recovered.

The suspect confessed after cops arrested him at about 12:45 this morning at his father's home in Ridgewood, Queens. The 22-year-old had allegedly been ransacking and trying to rob the home.

Charges are still pending.

Pravia, who was a sophomore at Pace University, originally was from Peru, Mass., about 10 miles from the New York border.

Pace University officials said they were saddened by the news and offered sympathy to Pravia's loved ones. Grieving friends quickly cobbled a Facebook page dedicated to the student and expressing shock over his death.

The 19-year-old was a 2007 graduate of Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton, where counselors were available Tuesday to help staff and students deal with the loss. Principal James Conro remembered Pravia as a "quiet, polite and respectful young man."

Pravia's brother Michael, 16, a junior at Wahconah, was scheduled to fly to Germany on Tuesday to take part in a youth exchange program, but reportedly canceled the trip.

"My heart goes out to the family," Conro told The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield, Mass. "It's a tough way to lose a son and a brother."