The body of 26-year-old Keithroy Caines was found Thursday morning in an apartment in Building 21 of Oswald Harris Court.
It was the 15th homicide on St. Thomas since the beginning of the year, the 26th in the territory.
Police were dispatched to the area at 4:47 a.m. after the sounds of shots were reported to the 911 emergency center. Officers were directed to an apartment in Building 21 where they found an unresponsive black man in a bedroom. He appeared to have been shot at least once to the upper body.
The body was identified as Caines.
Preliminary investigation reveals that it was not a random shooting incident, according to a statement by Police Commissioner Rodney Querrard. The investigation also showed that no shots were reported being fired in the area of Oswald Harris Court prior to the call of the reported shooting victim at the location.
Querrard said the case shows what happens when the community becomes inured to the sound of shots being fired.
"The time when calls are made to 911 is when the caller or a family member is a direct victim of the shots being fired or when there is damage to personal property," Querrard said. "When this occurs, it is too late. We as a community must be the ones to say enough is enough. We must be the ones to call and pass on specific information about those few living among us who are terrorizing our families in our homes, a place where one expects peace and tranquility. The elderly and minors living in these areas are suffering greatly when these senseless discharging of firearms occur.”
Querrard asked for the community’s help in solving this murder – or any other murder or serious crime – "so there can be closure for the families and, hopefully, a serious reduction in the retaliatory shootings causing the continuous demise of many of our young men."
“The only way this is going to happen is for a continued joint partnership with law enforcement, all law enforcement, federal and local, and a strong partnership with all of our community members," Querrard said. "We – all of us – can make that difference. Trust must be built both ways; between law enforcement personnel and those we serve each and every day. The Virgin Islands Police Department has reached out to other agencies that have peace officers asking for their assistance in this effort."
Querrard asked anyone with information to call the Major Crimes Unit detectives at 1-340-642-8449 (cell phone) or 1-340-774-2211 ext. 5617 or 5619. Information can also be passed on to the anonymous tip service, Crime Stoppers USVI, at 1-800-222-8477.
