81.4 F
Cruz Bay
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Homicides 2021

A chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2021 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as reported by the VIPD. Cases are broken down by island. While this listing is based on VIPD reports, the Source does not include suicides or vehicular homicides in its listing that the police and some other media do. This can lead to a discrepancy in the number of incidents reported.

STJ – 1
Territory – 1
Date of death – Jan. 1
At 11:42 p.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report of shots fired in Cruz Bay in the vicinity of Pine Peace. Officers traveled to the location and found an unresponsive Black male who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency medical technicians on the scene concluded that the victim had no vital signs. The victim was identified by family members as 28-year-old Lessroy Gumbs.

STX – 1
Territory – 2
Date of death – Jan. 12
At about 7:05 a.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report of shots fired in Gallows Bay. Officers traveled to the area and found a Hispanic male with multiple gunshot wounds on the ground in the parking lot between two businesses. Emergency medical technicians on the scene checked the victim and concluded that he did not have any vital signs. Family members identified the victim as 23-year-old Michael Cruz of Sion Farm.

STX – 2
Territory – 3
Date – Feb. 26
At 9:57 a.m. the 911 emergency call center was notified of shots fired and a man down on Main Street in Williams Delight. Officers arriving at the scene discovered a Black male with a gunshot wound to the head, and an older model SUV with multiple bullet holes. The male victim, later identified as 30-year-old Kevin Jerome, was transported to the Gov. Juan F. Luis Memorial Hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

STX – 3
Territory – 4
Date of Death – Feb. 27
At about 10:08 p.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report regarding the discovery of an unresponsive female gunshot victim at a residence in Estate La Grange. The victim, who expired at the scene, was identified by relatives as 66-year-old Elsi Ruiz. The incident appears to be a home invasion that turned deadly, the police said.

STX – 4
Territory – 5
Date of death– Feb. 27
At around 11:43 p.m. the emergency call center received a report of shots fired and a man down at the Corner Pocket Grillhouse and Nightclub in Estate La Reine. The initial investigation revealed a verbal dispute at the establishment escalated when one of the men brandished a firearm and a shootout ensued between him and a group of men. Six individuals were wounded by the gunfire, with one man dying of his injuries at the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. The victim was identified as Dujuan Tyson, age 23. One other gunshot victim was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon, while the remaining four victims received injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

STX – 5,6
Territory – 6,7
Date of death – Feb. 28
At roughly 12:21 a.m. Sunday an incident of shots fired was reported with multiple victims at the Ann E. Heyliger Vegetable Market in downtown Frederiksted. Officers arrived at the location and found an unresponsive Hispanic male with gunshot wounds on the ground. Officers learned three other gunshot victims were transported to the hospital via private vehicles. The victim at the scene, who had no vital signs, was identified as Johnny Martinez, age 49. Another victim, identified as David Clouden, age 47, died at the hospital. The remaining two victims received non-life-threatening injuries.

STX – 7
Territory – 8
Date of death – March 2
At 11:17 a.m. Tuesday, March 2, the 911 emergency call center received a report from an adult male, later identified as 38-year-old Ian Benjamin Sr., who said he been shot at his residence in Estate Carlton. The victim was transported via ambulance to the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, where he succumbed to his injury.

STX – 8
Territory – 9
Date of death – March 2
At approximately 9 p.m., the 911 Emergency Call Center received a call of shots fired and a man down in the Mutual Homes housing community, in the vicinity of Building 41. Officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive Black male with multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency medical technicians on the scene made a check of the victim and found no vital signs. The victim was identified as Euette A. Brown, age 34.

STX 9
Territory – 10
Date of death – March 6
Kadeem Baptiste, 26, was one of six people shot on Feb. 27 at the Corner Pocket. At around 11:43 p.m. Feb. 27 the 911 emergency call center received a report of shots fired and a man down at the Corner Pocket Grillhouse and Nightclub in Estate La Reine. The initial investigation revealed a verbal dispute at the establishment escalated when one of the men brandished a firearm and a shootout ensued. Six individuals were wounded by the gunfire, with one man dying of his injuries at the hospital. That victim was identified as Du’Juan Tyson, 23. Baptise was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon, while the remaining four victims received injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

STT – 1
Territory – 11
Date of death – March 9
At 4:51 a.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report of a man down in Estate Dorothea, in the vicinity of the dumpsters. Officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive Black male identified as Bill John-Baptiste, with multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency Medical Technicians on the scene made a check of the victim and found no signs of life.

STT – 2
Territory – 12
Date of death – March 9
At 7:58 p.m. the 911 emergency dispatch center received a report of shots fired in the area of the First Stop gas station and Oswald Harris Court. Officers arriving at the scene found a male lying on the ground. The victim, later identified as 35-year-old Akeem Dore, was unresponsive. He expired at the scene a short time later.

STX – 10
Territory – 13
Date of death – April 2
Officers responding to a phone report of shots fired discovered 22-year-old Wayne A. Jerome in a field near Lew Muckle Elemenary School in Sion Farm. Jerome was transported by ambulance hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

STX – 11
Territory – 14
Date of death – April 3
Deron Dixon, a 35-year-old resident of Estate Little Princess told police that as he left his residence headed to work at approximately 5 a.m. on April 1 he heard gunfire and realized he had been injured. He said he observed a white vehicle leaving the area, but did not know who shot him. Dixon sustained multiple gunshot wounds about his body, and was transported to JFL for treatment. He died two days later at around 11 p.m.

STX – 12
Territory – 15
Date of death – April 10
At approximately 11:30 p.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report of a man down in the vicinity of the Galloway Building, located in Estate Diamond, at the eastern end of the Melvin Evans Highway. The victim, who received multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body, was transported to the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital via private vehicle. The victim, who was identified by his next of kin as Denver Charlery, age 34 of Mount Pleasant, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

STX – 13, 14
Territory – 16, 17
Date of death – April 19
At around 7:46 p.m. the 911 emergency system reported calls about multiple shots fired in the Aureo Diaz Housing Community. Police arriving on the scene shortly thereafter found four injured, among them an 11-year-old girl at the playground. Both the minor and another shooting victim will survive, Police Commissioner Trevor Velinor said. Michael Ramos, 33, and Juan Velasquez later died at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, where they had been transported. St. Croix Chief of Police Sidney Elskoe said the shootout appears to have stemmed from an argument but would not specify what kind of guns were found at the scene, nor exactly how many weapons were recovered.

STX – 15
Territory – 18
Date of death – April 19
At approximately 9:30 p.m. authorities responded to a report of a shooting near the Cash & Carry in Estate La Reine. At the scene, St. Croix resident Jovel Newton was found dead.

STX – 16
Territory – 19
Date of death – April 29
At about 4:42 p.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report of a deceased male in the Campo Rico area. Officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive male victim later identified as 23-year-old Cesario Carmona Cadiz Jr. with gunshot wounds. It was confirmed the victim had no vital signs.

STX – 17
Territory – 20
Date of death – May 9
At about 12:21 a.m. the 911 emergency call center received reports of shots fired and a man down in the vicinity of Building 28 at the John F. Kennedy Terrace housing community. Officers at the scene found an unresponsive Black male, later identified as 16-year-old Kimani Perdomo of JFK Terrace, with gunshot wounds. It was confirmed that the male did not have any vital signs. A 9-year-old female who was in a nearby apartment was also reportedly grazed by a bullet in this incident.

STX – 18
Territory – 21
Date of death – May 21
At 11:55 a.m. the 911 emergency call center received a report of shots fired near a residence in Sion Farm on St. Croix. Officers traveled to the location and found three Black males, including a minor, who had sustained gunshot wounds. The victims were transported to the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital by ambulance for treatment. One of the victims, later identified by family as 23-year-old David Semper of Anna’s Hope., who was critically wounded, succumbed to his injuries a short time later at the hospital.

STJ – 2
Territory – 22
Date of death – June 1
On June 1, the body of an unidentified adult female was found on the roadside in Estate St. John. According to the autopsy, the female had been beaten to death. The victim was identified July 20 as 59-year-old Nancy Nieves of Estate St. John. The case was classified a homicide, and is being investigated by the Major Crime Unit.

STX – 19
Territory – 23
Date of death – June 14
Police officers responding to a 911 call found the body of an unresponsive male with multiple gunshot wounds at the Altona Lagoon. He was identified by next of kin as 38-year-old Nicholas A. Miller.

STT – 3, 4, 5
Territory – 24, 25, 26
Date of death – June 18
– Police responding to reports of shots fired at 6:27 p.m. in Fortuna on St. Thomas found an unresponsive male with a gunshot wound who was declared dead by Emergency Medical Technicians. He was identified by police as Donald George, age 38, of Estate Fortuna.
– Police responding to reports of shots fired and a man down about 11:20 p.m. in Smith Bay on St. Thomas found two unresponsive males. One of the victims was declared dead at the scene. He was identified by family members as 42-year-old Camille W. King Jr. The second victim was transported to Roy Lester Schneider Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. He has not been identified by police.

STX – 20
Territory – 27
Date of death – Unknown
On July 4, the decomposed body of an adult male was found in an apartment in Estate Peter’s Rest. The autopsy disclosed the victim had been shot multiple times, which caused his death. The victim has been identified as Michael Scott, age 48 of Estate Peter’s Rest. This case is also being investigated as a homicide by the Major Crime Unit.

STX – 21
Territory – 28
Date of Death – July 12
Police officers on patrol in the Campo Rico area of St. Croix discovered the body of a man who had apparently been shot to death, the V.I. Police Department reported. According to the police report, the man was identified by family members as 31-year-old Lionel Hendricks of Adventure Hill. At 1:53 a.m., police officers on patrol discovered Hendricks’ lifeless body on the side of the road leading into Campo Rico. Although there had been no reports of shots being fired in the area, the victim appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to the body.

STX – 22
Territory – 29
Date of death – July 20
At around 10:21 p.m. July 20 the 911 emergency call center received a report of an unresponsive adult male in a vehicle in Estate Carlton. Officers traveled to the area and found the man, later identified by family members as 37-year-old Travis Blair of Estate Carlton, had received multiple gunshot wounds and displayed no vital signs.

STT – 6
Territory – 30
Date of death – Aug. 6
John Paul Pelaiz, 19-year-old resident of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was shot and killed on Julius Jackson Drive on St. Thomas. Police said the incident occurred at 8:36 p.m. Pelaiz received gunshot wounds about the body and died at the scene

STX – 23
Territory – 31
Body discovered – Aug. 20
The body of a woman who had been stabbed multiple times was found around midday in a vehicle in Vista Concordia on St. Croix. The victim was identified by family members as 56-year-old Lucy Lindquist of Morning Star Circle. Emergency medical technicians confirmed that the female, later identified as Lindquist, had no vital signs and was in early stages of decomposition. The body appeared to have multiple stab wounds about the body.

STX – 24
Territory – 32
Date of death: Aug. 24
At 10:44 a.m. Aug. 24 the 911 emergency call center dispatched officers to Carlton Road on a report of shots fired and a man down. Officers found an unresponsive male on the roadside with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim, identified by next of kin as 42-year-old Victor Burgos, succumbed to his injuries on the scene. Burgos was part of a roadside crew working on Carton Road when a silver SUV drove up, and someone in the vehicle fired shots, hitting Burgos, police said. The vehicle then fled the area, traveling south.

STT – 7
Territory – 33
Date of death – Sept. 4
At 4:10 p.m., the 911 Emergency Call Center received a call from a concerned citizen who reported a male shot a female in the Home Depot parking lot in Estate Donoe. Officers found a female with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to the Roy Lester Schneider Regional Medical Center where she succumbed to her injuries. The victim was identified by next of kin as 20-year-old Keoner Barron. A person of interest, 23-year-old Justn A. Matthews, was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder.

STT – 8
Territory – 34
Body found: Sept. 17
The 911 call center received a report of a decomposing body in the Smith Bay area, close to Red Hook. The body was in a trash bag, wrapped in plastic and tied with cords. Police suspect foul play and as of Sept. 17 said they “have an idea of who it is,” though they need times to confirm.

STT – 9
Territory – 35
Date of death: Sept. 17
At about 10:25 p.m. the 911 center received a report of shots fired in Havensight. Officers responding to the scene found an unresponsive male in the roadway next to the portion of Al Cohen’s Plaza on Havensight hill. He was later declared dead. Another male had a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Numerpus shots had been fired, police said, and witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored vehicle speeding from the scene so. The police did not identify the victim other than to say he was a V.I. resident.

St. Croix – 25
Territory – 36
Date of death – Sept. 21
At 7:31 a.m. Tuesday the 911 emergency call center received reports from concerned citizens of an unresponsive Black male on the shoulder of North Shore Road in the vicinity of Salt River. Officers travelled to the area and corroborated the callers’ reports. emergency medical technicians confirmed that the victim, identified as 56-year-old John “Smiley” Silcott of Castle Burke, had no vital signs. Further investigation revealed that Silcott had been shot multiple times and left for dead on the side of the road.

St. Thomas – 10, 11
Territory – 37, 38
Date of death: Oct. 3
Two men were dead after gunfire erupted Oct. 3 night at the Vitraco Mall near Mandela Circle on St. Thomas.
Police found one man, later identified by family as Marc J. Thomas, 31, lying dead in the parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds after 911 dispatchers received a call of shots fired about 9:13 p.m. Sunday, VIPD press officer Toby Derima said in a news release. The other victim, 38-year-old Keris Kareem Phipps, was found with multiple gunshot wounds and transported to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. Phipps was a resident of St. Kitts and Nevis, according to the VIPD.

STX – 26
Territory – 39
Date of death – Oct. 23
At 7:45 p.m. the 911 emergency call center received calls reporting shots fired on Queen Mary Highway at Williams Delight, the police reported. At 8:06 p.m. calls reported a male gunshot victim being transported via private vehicle to the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. The gunshot victim, identified as Kareem Smith, a 37-year-old resident of Salt River, died of his injury.

STX – 27
Territory – 40
Date of death – Oct. 29
At 4:25 p.m. Friday the 911 emergency call center received calls regarding a gunshot victim in Estate La Grange. The victim, who was identified as 27-year-old Glenmore Southwell Jr., was working cutting grass when someone walked up on him and shot him. EMS arrived and found signs of life, however, he passed away before the ambulance left the scene.

STT – 12, 13
Territory – 41, 42
Date of death – Nov. 23
V.I. Police are investigating two unrelated homicides that occurred on St. Thomas on Nov. 23, one in the morning in Estate Fortuna and the other in the evening in the area of Kronprindsens Gade in Charlotte Amalie.
The initial set of calls came in to 911 around 5:44 a.m. Police found an unresponsive male with multiple gunshot wounds along a beaten path that leads to Fortuna’s main waterline.
The victim’s identity is being withheld while next of kin are being notified.
A little after 6 p.m., calls into 911 then led police to an abandoned house in Kronprindsens Gade, where they found an unresponsive male with multiple gunshot wounds and no vital signs. The victim died at the scene, and identification is pending as his next of kin is notified.
The incidents are unrelated, officials said,

STX – 28
Territory – 43
Date of death – Nov. 27
On Nov. 27, 911 received multiple calls from concerned citizens reporting shots fired in Whim on Pine Drive, Frederiksted. They discovered the lifeless body of an adult male lying on the ground in the vicinity of a truck with multiple gunshots wounds to his upper body. The man was later identified as 40-year-old Arsdale Ferdinand of Estate Whim. Police believe he was ambushed in front of his house and shot multiple times by an unknown individual(s). Investigation continues into the matter.

STT – 14
Territory – 44
Date of death – Nov. 27
Police responding to calls of shots fired just after 11:30 p.m. Nov. 27 on Judy Gomez Highway in downtown St. Thomas found an auto accident scene and the body of a man who appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency Medical Technicians at the scene determined the man did not have any vital signs. The victim’s identity is being withheld until next of kin are notified.

STX – 29
Territory – 45
Date of death – Dec. 28
Police responding to calls of a shooting about 2:30 p.m. Dec. 28 at the D. Hamilton Jackson Terrace housing community on St. Croix found two victims at the scene, including 21-year-old Jose M. Rivera, who succumbed to his injuries at the scene. The other victim was transported via ambulance to Luis Hospital and Medical Center for treatment.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.