NJ man accused of killing mom tells judge he's guilty

MAYS LANDING, N.J. - A convicted murderer who New Jersey police say killed his mother two days after being released from prison has told a judge that he's guilty and doesn't want a trial.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Steven Pratt told a judge Tuesday through tears that he doesn't have a lawyer before he was taken back to jail on $1 million bail.

Judge Michael A. Donio told Pratt not to speak without an attorney, but he spoke anyway.

Gwendolyn Pratt was found dead Sunday at a home in Atlantic City. Atlantic County prosecutor Jim McClain says that an autopsy determined that she died from massive blunt injuries to the head.

Pratt was 15 when he shot and killed his next-door neighbor in 1984. He received a 30-year prison sentence in 1986 and was freed Friday.