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HomeNewsArchivesFIGHT ENDS IN FATAL SHOOTING IN CAMPO RICO

FIGHT ENDS IN FATAL SHOOTING IN CAMPO RICO

June 29, 2001 – An argument between two men in the Campo Rico area Thursday afternoon ended with one shooting the other dead.
At about 3 p.m. Thursday, police received a call reporting shots fired in Campo Rico, Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis said. But by the time police reached the area, the individuals involved had left, he said.
About 90 minutes later, police were again summoned to the area and learned of the shooting of Shelton Bess, 24. They spoke to witnesses who said that Deray Seales had fired the shots.
Between the first call and the second, police said, Bess was taken to the Juan F. Luis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 5 p.m. from a gunshot wound to the chest. Seales, 30, of Hannah's Rest, was taken into custody and charged with murder.
There were reports that the two men had been involved in a fistfight earlier in the day. After the fight was broken up, witnesses said, Seales went to his vehicle and drove away. He returned a short time later and fired two shots, one of which struck Bess.
Bess is the fifth person slain on St. Croix this year and the 12th in the territory. The last killing occurred on June 12, when Eduardo Marrero, 28, was shot and killed by a masked gunman as he sat in a car outside Quality Auto Parts in Castle Coakley. No one has been charged in that case.

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