Aug. 29, 2001 – All three suspects in the shooting death of Kaunda Bryan, 25, turned themselves in to police at the Patrick Sweeney Headquarters around 8 a.m. Wednesday, where they were interrogated and processed. They were to be transferred later in the day to the Golden Grove Detention Center.
An advice of rights hearing for all three is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday at Territorial Court on St. Croix, Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis said.
"They all arrived together, accompanied by their parents," Francis said. "It all took place without incident."
The three were identifed by police earlier as Zacchaeus "Iceman" Blake, 26, and Blaine Claxton, 22, of Castle Coakley; and Eugene "Tayo" Williams, 18, of the Harvey housing community. Police had said earlier that the suspects were being sought on first-degree murder and weapons charges.
According to Francis, police were not notified in advance that the three planned to surrender Wednesday morning. "But we had activated a special team that had made contact with their families last evening and let them know we were searching for them and that it would be in their best interests to come in," he said. All arrived with their parents, and none was accompanied by legal counsel, he said.
Bryan, the son of Sen. Adelbert Bryan, was fatally shot Sunday near the Texaco service station in Estate Betty's Hope. The shooting reportedly occurred when an argument at an impromptu horse race on the scene escalated into gunfire. Shot once in the chest, Bryan was pronounced dead shortly before noon Sunday at Juan F. Luis Hospital.
