Oct. 3, 2006 — In less than 24 hours Monday, gun violence in the territory claimed three lives. While police on St. Croix were responding to reports of shots fired Monday evening, police on St. Thomas were investigating an early morning killing and responding to a second murder, less than 16 hours later, that afternoon.
Police spokeswoman Shawna Richards identified the latest victim on St. Croix as Jermaine Phillip. As of noon Tuesday, police had not determined Phillip's exact age but estimated him to have been in his 20s.
Richards said that police received reports of shots being fired near the Ludvig Harrigan Court housing community about 7:30 Monday night.
Upon arriving at the scene, investigators found Phillip, a black male, lying in the street.
Richards said Phillip died at the scene. Police have not yet been able to establish a motive, she said.
Monday night's killing was the fourth homicide to rock the Virgin Islands in a week, bringing the total territorywide to 34. It is the 15th killing on St. Croix and the 21st in the territory since June.
Many of the killings — which have sometimes occurred within days of each other — remain unsolved.
The day was also one of the busiest for police detectives in the territory — and one of the most fatal — since June 18, when two men were shot and killed in a bar on St. Thomas and a third man died four days later of gunshot wounds sustained in the same incident.
On St. Thomas, Police credited community involvement for the quick arrest in Monday's killing of 19-year-old Shakif Alexander on St. Thomas. The killing occurred at 1:07 a.m. Monday near On the Run gas station near Four Winds Plaza.
Less than 14 hours later, at 2:47 p.m., police had arrested 24-year- old Jamal "Shaggy" Arthur and charged him with Alexander's killing, which police said was in retaliation for a prior robbery. Police Sgt. Thomas Hannah declined to go into details about the robbery, saying only that Arthur's arrest brings that investigation to a "partial close."
Police also would not speculate on any connection between Alexander's killing and that of his 28-year-old brother, Shakir, who on July 5 was found dead in his Smith Bay office, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head.
Alexander's killing occurred in the vicinity of the police substation in Four Winds Plaza and officers, who heard a single gunshot, went to investigate. They found Alexander lying on the ground bleeding. He was subsequently rushed to Schneider Hospital but died from his wounds.
On Monday, just as police were wrapping up Arthur's arrest, they were called to the Savan area shortly before 5 p.m. At the scene, police found the body of gunshot victim Rory Bruce Turner, 50, lying face down in an alley near Red Ball Grocery. Richards said the investigation into Turner's murder, the 19th on St. Thomas this year, is ongoing.
Other killings since June:
June 18 on St. Thomas. Trevor Louis, Edgar Eustace were shot multiple times after two gunmen entered the Banana Split Bar and Grill on Brookman Road and opened fire.
June 22 on St. Thomas. Lenox B. Weeks, 36, died at Schneider Hospital after he was shot along with Trevor Louis and Edgar Eustace on June 18.
June 23 on St. Thomas. Kenrique Caines, 17, shot and killed in a VIPD sting operation.
June 24 on St. Croix. David Berrios, 17, found dead and lying in a grassy area in the Ralph deChabert housing community.
July
July 1 on St. Thomas. Kibwe Reid, 23, found with legs and hands bound on rocks near Point Pleasant Beach Resort in Smith Bay.
July 5 on St. Thomas. Shakir Alexander, 28, found with a gunshot wound to the head in his second floor office at the Cassi Hill East Business Center in Smith Bay.
July 9 on St. Thomas. Germaine Heyliger, 34, shot at 4:52 p.m. at Paul M. Pearsons Gardens; died from multiple gunshot wounds hours later.
July 24 on St. Thomas. Jhabob Christopher, 21, shot to death while walking with his mother in Estate Thomas.
July 28 on St. Croix. Edgar Sheridan, 38, shot to death in Estate Barren Spot.
July 31 on St. Croix. Gregory Ford, 40, shot near his home in Gallows Bay.
August
Aug. 3 on St. Thomas. Rumaine Mayers, 17, shot near Pile Gade at 2:30 a.m. and rushed to emergency surgery at Schneider Hospital. He died several hours later.
Aug. 4 on St. Thomas. Jean Claude Charles, 35, a safari tax driver, was shot multiple times during a robbery attempt near Splash and Dash car wash in Four Winds Plaza while awaiting a tow truck.
Aug. 6 on St. Croix. Brenda Osario, 26, found dead in Rain Forest, a victim of a domestic violence. Malik Rohlsen, 32, also found dead; police classified the deaths as a homicide-suicide.
September
Sept. 11 on St. Croix. Ruperto Berrios, 20, was killed in the parking lot of Walter I.M. Hodge housing community in front of a relative. Police would not speculate as to whether his killing was related to the June 24 murder of his younger brother, David, age 17.
Sept. 20 on St. Croix. Earl Russell Dennis, 26, died of gunshot wounds he sustained on Sept. 15 near a downtown Christiansted nightclub.
To help police, call 911 or the Major Crime Hotline at 715-5544 on St. Thomas or 778-4050 on St. Croix.
