Aug. 18, 2008 — A taxi driver, apparently just getting off an evening shift Sunday, was shot and killed near his home in the Thomasville Housing Community on St. Thomas.
Manassa Caines, 70, died in the shooting, said Police spokeswoman Melody Rames.
Witnesses told police they overheard what could have been an argument between Caines and the gunman. Caines was overheard saying, "Leave me alone, I don't have no money." Several gunshots followed the argument, Rames said, according to a released statement.
A citizen reported the shooting to police at 9:23 p.m. Officers found Caines in the parking lot area of Building 8. He was unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, with multiple gunshot wounds about the body.
Police are looking at robbery as a motive, but declined to release further details to avoid jeopardizing the investigation, Rames said.
Investigators are questioning various witnesses, she said. Police urge anyone with information that could lead to an arrest to contact the Investigations Bureau at 774-4950 or call 911.
Caines' killing is the 15th this year on St. Thomas and the 26th territory-wide. The last killing on St. Thomas occurred earlier this month, when police found the decomposing body of an unidentified man in an abandoned house near Cabrita Point. The death was ruled a homicide. The man died of blunt-force trauma to the head and appeared to have been dead for several days before the discovery of the body, police said.
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