May 26, 2009 — Monday's apparent homicide-suicide was a "domestic violence situation," according to Melody Rames, public information officer for the V.I. Police Department.
Police responding to a call from a residence in Estate Rattan found 28-year-old Nefertiti O'Bryan dead from a gunshot wound. An all-points bulletin was issued for her domestic partner, Davenon Joseph, according to Rames, but a short time later it was recalled after Joseph's body was found in a car about 1,000 feet from the home.
Joseph died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Rames said the final determination of whether Joseph shot himself would be made by the medical examiner. Ballistics tests are being conducted to determine if the two victims were killed by the same weapon.
The death of O'Bryan, the granddaughter of Alexander Farrelly, governor of the Virgin Islands from 1987 to 1995, brought an outpouring of emotion from friends far and wide.
"She will be greatly missed by us all," said Nicole O' Bryan of Orlando, Fla., a cousin of Nefertiti O'Bryan. "My deepest sympathy goes out to her mother, father, kids and everyone else that had a chance to know her."
Karishma Crooke, a childhood friend of O'Bryan who now lives in Atlanta, Ga., set up an O'Bryan website on which people can leave a message. Within 12 hours more than 70 people had logged on to post "memorial candles" and comments.
O'Bryan, who Crooke described as very athletic and involved in softball since youth, was a teacher and girls basketball coach at Elena Christian Jr. High School.
She was a mother of four, two fathered by the man believed to have killed her, and two from a previous relationship.
Crooke said the material posted on the website will eventually be printed as a memorial book for the family.
O'Bryan's death hit hard at Elena Christian Junior High, where she had been a teacher of children with special needs for seven years.
St. Croix District Superintendent Gary Molloy sent the district’s Crisis Response Team to the school to assist the administration, staff and students deal with the news.
“She was well known and loved by the children, as she also served as a coach and the leader of the weekly pep rallies at Elena Christian," Molloy said.
Principal Carlos McGregor took the lead in coordinating the morning assembly and getting the staff and students together for the response team, which consists of counselors from several schools.
“We at the St. Croix District Superintendent’s Office join the community in offering our sympathy to the families of Ms. O’Bryan during this very difficult time,” Molloy said.
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