A St. Croix man was hospitalized in critical condition with severe wounds to his arm and hand after an alleged machete attack by a family member, police said Friday.
Thinking he was alone, the victim was sitting in his kitchen midday Wednesday when he looked up to find Jano Gordon coming at him with a machete, according to court records. He had told Gordon to leave the home many times because of Gordon’s erratic and aggressive behavior. He told police Gordon suffered from mental health distress.
Gordon allegedly swung at the victim’s head, striking the man’s right arm and hand as he shielded himself, according to court records.
When Gordon fled, police said, the victim picked up his severed thumb and placed it on ice. Doctors at Juan F. Luis Hospital were unable to reattach the thumb.
Police caught Gordon at the Level Up Service Station in Estate Hogensbor, where he had been arrested twice before. In May 2023, the gas station owner called police to report Gordon was hurling glass bottles at cars and attempting to spit on children.
Gordon refused to give officers his name, so “John Doe” was arrested for disturbing the peace and disobeying police. He refused to speak in at least three psychiatric evaluations, according to court records. Gordon was diagnosed with a form of disorder that causes short-term but very real-seeming hallucinations and delusions that were exacerbated by cannabis use. Another evaluation called it “selective mutism” and “malingering.”
After 108 days in detention for non-violent misdemeanors, Gordon was released. Magistrate Earnest Morris said the delay was “an inexcusable violation of the defendant’s Constitutional rights and faulted several divisions within the Virgin Islands Health Department.
On July 2, Gordon was again arrested at the Level Up Station, where the owner had banned him for allegedly taking things without paying. Despite the ban, Gordon had purchased a drink that he then tried to return. The store owner refused, saying he’d had the drink too long and had taken it outside the store. Gordon became upset and tried to hit the shopkeeper, according to court records.
Officers arrived and ordered Gordon to leave the store four times before he eventually complied, police said. They left Gordon by his bicycle under a nearby mahogany tree. But Gordon followed the officers back to the gas station, where he was arrested for trespassing and disobeying police orders.
On Wednesday, Gordon was charged with attempted murder, assault, mayhem, and carrying a weapon during a crime. His bail was set at $100,000. Unable to post bail, Gordon was remanded to the John Bell Correctional Facility pending his advice of rights hearing.
