Nov. 14, 2001 – A 24-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a man at Coki Point Beach 19 months ago, according to court documents that were unsealed Wednesday.
Dion Samuel Lawrence, who also is known as Albert Peterson, appeared in District Court on Wednesday. He was charged with shooting George Hodge three times on April 22, 2000, at Coki Point.
Hodge was paralyzed from the neck down and died of his injuries on May 30, 2000, according to court papers.
A grand jury indicted Lawrence in connection with the killing in November 2000, but the case was under seal until Wednesday. Investigators say at least three people witnessed the shooting but that Lawrence, a native of Trinidad, fled the territory before he could be arrested.
Lawrence, who more recently had been serving a sentence on a firearms conviction in the British Virgin Islands, was scheduled to be released last month, according to an extradition request filed by the U.S. State Department.
Rather than go through the formal extradition process, B.V.I. officials deported Lawrence and on Oct. 23 put him on a flight to Puerto Rico. U.S. marshals met him upon his arrival at the San Juan airport and arrested him without incident, according to U.S. Marshal Conrad Hoover.
"This is a relationship we have with many of the authorities throughout the Caribbean," Hoover said of the cooperation with the B.V.I. officials. "We prefer this. It's a lot easier than going through the extradition process."
Lawrence was detained in Puerto Rico based on an order signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jesus Castellano, according to court papers.
Lawrence chose not to fight extradition from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands, Thurston McKelvin, the federal public defender assigned to the case, said. Lawrence remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for Nov. 28.
