By Jean Cole
jean@athensnews-courier.com
— An Athens man who murdered his estranged wife and her friend 13 years ago has been denied parole for at least five more years.
Members of the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles in Montgomery denied 33-year-old Brandon Pratt’s request for parole and will reconsider the request in five years, Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said.
Pratt was convicted about 8 1/2 years ago of fatally shooting 18-year-old Jessica Pratt and her friend, 19-year-old Billy Perry, on Oct. 13, 1997, records show. Pratt was found shot to death in the bed of her apartment at 14109 Deb Drive in the Reid community west of Athens, records show. Perry was found dead in a neighbor’s yard about 150 yards from her apartment, where authorities believe he had tried to flee from Pratt, who was armed with a .30-30 deer rifle. Pratt took the couple’s 18-month-old son from the apartment, unharmed, to his parents’ home after the shooting.
The Pratts had been separated about six months and their divorce was pending at the time of the shooting.
Following a change of venue to Birmingham, Pratt was tried, convicted and sentenced to serve three consecutive life sentences, Blakely said. However, those sentences included a chance for parole, he said.
Blakely appeared Tuesday before members of the parole board along with Limestone County District Attorney Kristi Valls and Chief Investigator Capt. Stanley McNatt to try to prevent Pratt from being paroled.
“We went on behalf of the victims’ families and appeared against his release,” the sheriff said.
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