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Homicides 2018 – A Chronological Log

A chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2018 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as reported by the VIPD. Cases are broken down by island. The Source does not include suicides or vehicular homicides in its listing.

STX – 1
Territory – 1
Date of death – Jan. 6
The territory’s first homicide took place late on Saturday, Jan. 6, when shooting occurred at the Festival Village in Frederiksted, and a suspect was arrested. The victim was identified as 31-year-old Curtis Phipps, also known as “QT.” Officers assigned to the Festival Village in Frederick heard approximately four shots echo from the eastern part of village. Canvassing the area by the “gamble games,” the officers found an unresponsive black male, later identified as Phipps, lying on the ground.

St. Croix – 2
Territory – 2
Date of death – Feb. 13
Julio Cruz, 42, a resident of the Aurio Diaz Housing Community, died from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds in Estate Bonne Esperance.

St. Croix – 3, 4
Territory – 3, 4
Date of death – Feb. 17
32-year old Luis Colon and 46-year-old Jacobo Garcia were both shot and killed in the afternoon of Feb. 17 when shots broke out at the Cockpit Coliseum where shots had been reported. Colon and Garcia succumbed to wounds from the shooting.

St. Croix – 5
Territory – 5
Date of death – March 25
43-year-old Raymond Melendez, was killed in a shooting in the Williams Delight Housing Community. According to police at 11:26 p.m. residents in the Williams Delight Housing Community called 911 to report hearing the sound of shots fired. Responding officers found a responsive Hispanic man, later identified as Melendez, on the ground with what appeared to be gunshot wound to the body.

STX – 6
Territory – 6
Date of death – March 29
The 911 center received a call at 12:42 p.m. Thursday reporting an unresponsive male. Officers discovered the body of a black male. The police report did not indicate how the man had died. Officers were unable to determine the name of the victim, and the VIPD Criminal Investigations Bureau has asked the the community for assistance in identifying him. The victim is a black male between the ages of 18 and 25 years old, with medium brown dark skin and a low fade hair cut. He is between 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds. He has very low facial hair beard and mustache.

STX – 7
Territory – 7
Date of death – March 31
24-year-old Alex Gonzalez died of multiple gunshot wounds during a shooting in the Water Gut area of Christiansted. A caller reported the shots fired at about 12:10 a.m. Saturday. The caller reported gunshots. Officers discovered an unresponsive male lying in the parking lot in the Ruby M. Rouse Housing Community.

STT – 1
Territory – 8
Date of death – April 20
Reports of shots fired at about 5:38 p.;m. drew police to the Kirwan Terrace Housing Community, where they found an unresponsive male who had received multiple gunshot wounds to the body. Police withheld the name of the deceased pending notification of next of kin.

STX – 8
Territory – 9
Date of death – March 29
According to the V.I. Police Department, the 911 center received a call at 12:42 p.m. Thursday reporting an unresponsive male. Officers at the scene discovered the body of a black male, identified by his mother as Robert Courtney Bascus, 23. The police report did not indicate how he had died.

STT – 2
Territory – 10
Date of death – May 9
42-year-old Pierre Nelson Brock was shot to death at the Oswald Harris Housing Community. According to police, at about 2:50 a.m. the 911 center received a report that “someone was crying” in the rear building – Building 4 – of the Oswald Harris Court Housing Community. At the scene officers discovered an unresponsive black male around Building 4. The victim, identified by next of kin as Pierre Belson Brock, man appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to his body. The victim was later identified by next of kin as Pierre Nelson Brock.

STX – 9
Territory – 11
Date of death – May 19
28-year-old St. Croix man was shot to death early Saturday in Estate Castle Coakley. The victim was identified by next of kin as 28-year-old Adrian Agustin, the police report said. At about 3:53 a.m. the 911 call center received a report of shots being fired at Gertrude’s Restaurant in Estate Castle Coakley. the scene, officers found two individuals had been shot and transported by private vehicle to the Juan F. Luis Hospital. Agustin, the male victim, sustained multiple gunshot wounds to various parts of his body and died of his injuries. The second victim in the shooting, a woman, sustained a gunshot wound to her leg and was treated at the hospital.

STX – 10
Territory – 12
Date of death – May 27
At about 6:40 p.m. the 911 call center received reports about shots being fired on Queen Street in the vicinity of the Vegetable Market in Frederiksted. At the scene officers found an unresponsive male with gunshot wounds to the upper body. Medical attendants at the scene tried to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful. The victim was identified by the next of kin as 39-year-old Johnny Silverio De La Cruz, the V.I. Police Department reported.

STT – 3
Territory – 13
Date of death – June 9
At about 4:31 p.m. the 911 call center received a report that a man had been shot in the stomach at the complex and was being transported by private vehicle to the Schneider Regional Medical Center. At about 4:39 p.m. the victim succumbed to his injuries, the police said. The victim was identified by next of kin as 29-year-old Akeem Lettsome.

STT – 4
Territory – 14
Date of death – June 13
23-year-old Jamal George was found shot to death in his car in the middle of the roadway in Solberg on St. Thomas. According to police an individual called 911 at 10:19 a.m. to report a man in a vehicle who appeared to be unresponsive. Units from the Richard N. Callwood Command along with units from the Criminal Investigation Bureau traveled to the scene and found a vehicle in the middle of the roadway with an unresponsive male in the driver’s seat. He appeared to have been shot in his midsection, police said. Emergency medical technicians were unable to find any vital signs.

STT – 5
Territory – 15
Date of death – June 15
71-year-old Thomas Willie was found dead in his Estate Thomas apartment, dead of a gunshot wound. According to police, 911 received a call at 1:06 p.m. reporting that a foul odor was coming from a residence. The Major Crime Unit responded and found an unresponsive black male sitting in a chair. Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased had what appeared to be a gunshot to the body.

STT – 6
Territory – 16
Date of death – June 26
A man was shot and killed at aroud 10:48 p.m. in the area known as “Glass Batttle Alley” in Hospital Ground area The victim’s name had not been released by police. At 10:48 p.m. June 25 the 911 dispatcher received a call of multiple shots fired in the Hospital Ground area. Police at the scene discovered a black male on the ground. The man appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to his body. He was transported to Schneider Regional Medical Center via ambulance where he was taken into surgery. He died early the next morning.

STX – 11
Territory – 17
Date of death – June 29
52-year-old Lloyd Canegata was killed and another man injured in a shooting at the Players Club in Diamon Crest Plaza. The 911 call center received a report of shots fired at 2:37 a.m. At the scene they discovered the body of Canegata in the driver’s seat of a car. A second man, who was bot identified vy police, was reportedly shot inside the club, according to police. He was treated at the Juan F. Luis Memorial Hospital.

STX – 12
Territory – 18
Date of death – June 30
The 911 call center received a report of gunshots in Frangiapani at 9:21 p.m. Officers arriving st the scene found an unresponsive male lying on the ground in the vicinity of the Frangiapani Little Fountain area. Medical attendants were unable to find any vital signs on the victim, the police said. 30-year-old Tahmal Brinkley had succumbed to injuries sustained from multiple gunshot wounds to the body. He was identified by next of kin.

STX – 13
Territory – 19
Date of death – July 6
24-year-old La’Quan Hill was shot and killed in Campo Rico. According to the V.I. POlice Department, the 911 call center received a report at 7:54 p.m. from residents of the Campo Rico area reporting the discharge of shots. Officers responded to the scene and discovered a black male, later identified as Hill, in the vicinity of the basketball court at Campo Rico. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to body and died of his wounds.

STX: 14
Territory: 20
July 14
Emile Brin Date of death: Body discovered July 16
A body found in burned out car July 16 on Hamms Bluff, Frederiksted, has been identified through DNA testing, the V.I. Police Department reported Monday.
According to police, the test identified the victim as 22-year-old Emile Brin. This case is classified as a homicide.
At 10:13 a.m. July 16 a citizen called 911 police and reported a suspicious burned vehicle in the Hamms Bluff area . Officers responded and discovered a burnt vehicle with a body inside the vehicle.
Based on the identification of the vehicle the owner for the vehicle stated that her son was driving her car and he was not seen since July 14.

STX: 15
Territory: 21
Date of death: July 20
At 12:59 p.m. Friday, the 911 dispatcher received a call reporting reported a discharging of shots in Bethlehem Village Housing Community in Estate Profit. At the scene, VIPD officers found an unresponsive male victim with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. Medical attendants were unable to locate any vital signs on the victim, who was identified by next of kin as 28-year-old Akeem Herbert.

STT: 7
Territory: 22
Date of death: Aug. 26
Michael Quinn, 57, was killed in a shooting in the Peterborg area. According to the VIPD, at 6:25 p.m. Sunday, units from the Criminal Investigation Bureau along with units from the Mariel C. Newton Command traveled to Peterborg in reference to a discharging of shots. At the scene, units found a white male on the ground with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his body. Emergency medical technicians on scene concluded that the male, later identified as Quinn, did not have any vital signs.

STX: 16

Naji Jarvis
Naji JarvisTerritory: 23

Territory: 23
Date of death: Aug. 27
Naji Jarvis, 21, a member of the U.S. military, was found  in a Jarvis a black male who stands 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs about 177 pounds. He has brown eyes, a brown complexion, with a piercing in the left eyebrow, short black hair and wears glasses.Jarvis was last seen operating a charcoal-colored four-door Toyota Yaris and frequents the JFK Housing Community in Christiansted. On Monday August 27, 2018 a citizen called 911 at approximately 11:03pm., reporting a vehicle on fire on first street in Williams Delight, Frederiksted. A body in the vehicle was identified as Jarvis.

STT: 8
Territory: 24
Date of death: Aug. 30
At 5:06 a.m. Saturday officers of the V.I. Police Department officers were dispatched at Lerkenlund, St. Thomas, in reference to a unresponsive female. Upon arrival, officers observed an unresponsive female on the floor of the apartment.Emergency medical technicians at the scene said the woman, later identified by next of kin as 35-year-old Regin Powell, did not have any vital signs. An autopsy performed Tuesday determined that Powell had died due to blunt force trauma to the head.

Oral Christopher Smith, 40, was charged in relation to her death.

STT: 9
Territory: 25
Date of Death: Sept. 1
Jerome Turnbull, a 44-year-old St. Thomas man was killed the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 1 in a shooting in the Hospital Ground area.
According to the V.I. Police Department, the 911 center received a call reporting shots fired at 5:17 p.m. Saturday. Units from the Richard N. Callwood Command along with units from the Criminal Investigation Bureau traveled to the scene at Hospital Ground and discovered an unresponsive black male lying on the side of the road.
Turnbull appeared to have sustained multiple gunshots wounds to the body. Aubrey Frett, age 29, was arrested and charged in relation to the homicide.

STX: 17
Territory: 26
Date of Death: Sept. 5
Akuojo J. Jackson, 29
Police on Thursday discovered the body of 29-year-old Akuojo J. Jackman, who had been shot to death. The body was found in the living room of the man’s apartment.
According to the V.I. Police Department, at 10:44 a.m. a citizen came into the Francis Command Police Station in Frederiksted to make a missing person report. Officers then made a welfare check at the victim’s apartment at Mutual Homes Apartment Grove Place, where they discovered an unresponsive black male lying on the apartment’s living room floor.
The victim appeared to have sustained gunshot wounds to the upper body.
Jackman’s vehicle, a blue Mazda 3, was missing from the parking lot of the victim’s apartment building.

STX: 18
Territory: 27
Date of Death: Sept. 30
Ulcier Nehemiah Crump, 33
A man shot to death in a Frederiksted bar Sept. 29 has been identified by his mother as Ulcier Nehemiah Crump, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the V.I. Police Department.According to the VIPD, Crump was known to go by the alias of Brandon Nesbett. The police had been withholding the victim’s identity pending the notification of the next of kin, but Crump apparently had no relatives on island, according to police.According to the police report, at about 10:45 p.m. Sept. 29 police received a report of a shooting at the El Rincon Bar Queen Street in Frederiksted. Investigators determined that Crump had been in the bar when someone, as yet unidentified, entered and fired multiple shots, striking Crump in the upper body. The shooter then fled the area on foot. While multiple individuals witnessed the shooting, police have no suspects.
Emergency medical technicians found the victim on the floor of the bar but were unable to resuscitate him. He was transported to morgue at the Juan F. Luis Memorial Hospital.

STX: 19
Territory: 28
Date of Death: Oct. 2
Richard R. Christopher, 45
Christopher was shot and killed the evening of Oct. 2 in Estate Williams Delight.
At 7:56 p.m. Tuesday the 911 call center received a report of shots being fired in Williams Delight. Officers responded and discovered an unresponsive man, later identified as Christopher, lying face up on the grass in front of a residential property with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds to the body.
Emergency medical technicians and medical attendants were unable to find any vital signs. Christopher was transported to the morgue at the Juan F. Luis Memorial Hospital.

STX: 20
Territory: 29
Date of Death: Oct. 4
Jelani Pitman, 26
According to the police report, at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, the 911 center received a report that shots had been discharged in the vicinity of St Croix Nails in Golden Rock Shopping Center. At the scene, officers discovered a male individual, later identified as Pitman, lying on the ground in the doorway of the St. Croix Nails salon.
The victim appeared to have sustained several gunshot wounds to the body. He was transported to the Juan F. Luis Hospital by ambulance where he died of his injuries and at 7:29 p.m. he was pronounced dead by medical attendants at the hospital.

STX: 21
Territory: 30
Date of Death: Oct. 20
Daniel D. Peters, 33
On October 20, 2018 at around 7:23 p.m., the 911 Emergency Call Center received a call reporting multiple discharging of shots from Estate Grove Place Ball Park area. Officers responded and discovered an unresponsive black male lying face down in an alley between the Grove Place Ball Park and a residence with multiple gunshot wounds to the lower part of the body.EMS and Ambulance responded, transported the victim to the Juan F. Luis Hospital where the victim succumbed to his injuries sustained from the gunshots wounds and was pronounced dead by the attending Medical Physician. The victim was identified by next of kin as 33-year-old Daniel D. Peters.

STT: 10
Territory: 31
Date of Death: Oct. 26
Name unknown
At about 1:46 a.m. Friday, Oct. 26, members of the Major Crime Unit were dispatched to Tutu Valley in response to a reported homicide. At the scene, officers found a four-door Toyota Camry with what appeared to be a male body sitting in the left passenger rear seat. The car and body were burned.
Emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene and found no vital signs. Police were not immediately able to identify the victim because the body was burned beyond recognition.

STX: 22
Territory: 32
Date of Death: Oct. 27
David Gonzalez, 25, was shot to death the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 27, in the Mutual Homes Housing complex in Grove Place, the V.I. Police Department reported.
According to police, at about 3:40 p.m. Saturday, the 911 emergency call center received a report of shots being fired in the Mutual Homes complex. Arriving at the scene, officer’s discovered an unresponsive Hispanic male lying on the ground in the parking lot just outside the apartment building.
Emergency medical technicians and a medical attendant responded and were unable to discover any vital signs on the victim. Gonzalez was identified by next of kin.
Preliminary investigation reveals Gonzalez was leaving an apartment building with a female companion when he was approached by three masked individuals who shot him multiple times to the upper body. He was to the Juan F. Luis Hospital Morgue.

STX: 23:
Territory: 33
Date of Death: Oct. 30
Raymond Richards, 29, was shot in Estate Plessen and killed.
According to police, at 7:49 p.m. Tuesday the 911 center received a call requesting emergency assistance for a shooting victim in the rear of the Consumer Gas Station Estate Plessen, Frederiksted. Responding officers found a a black male individual with multiple gunshot wounds to the body. He was lying in the rear of the service station on the ground.
Richards was transported to the Juan F. Luis Hospital by ambulance and was immediately taken into surgery and remained in critical condition as of Wednesday morning. He died of the gunshot wounds, police said.

STX: 24
Territory: 34
Date of death: before Nov. 8
The V.I. Police Department on Thursday discovered the body of a man who apparently had been shot to death in Estate La Grange on St. Croix. The victim was identified as 67-years-old Joseph Mark Graffis of Little La Grange, Frederiksted.
According to the police, at 3 p.m. Thursday, a person went to the VIPD Francis Command Zone B in Frederiksted and requested a welfare check. The person reporting said the subject had not been seen in a couple of days.
Officers made a check in the La Grange neighborhood and discovered the remains of a Caucasian male with what appears to be bullet wounds.

STX – 25
Territory – 35
Date of death – Nov. 14
A recovery worker from North Carolina who was on island to help rebuild after 2017’s double hurricanes died Wednesday when he was shot during a robbery at a bar on the east end of St. Croix. Police identified the victim as 33-year-old Derrick Cribb of North Carolina, an employee of APTIM, an international company specializing in engineering, program management, environmental services, disaster recovery, complex facility maintenance and construction services.
According to the police report, the 911 call center received a notice of an armed robbery and dispatched officers to the scene in Estate Solitude. Arriving at Castaway’s bar and restaurant, officers found a white male victim, later identified as Cribb, who had sustained gunshot wounds to the body.

STT – 11
Territory – 36
Date of death – Nov. 20
Early morning gunfire in the Bovoni Housing Community on Tuesday killed 29-year-old Harim Prince, who was identified by next of kin. At 1:56 a.m. officers from the Major Crimes Unit were dispatched to the Bovoni housing Community Building B on a report of shots fired and a man down. At the scene, officers and emergency medical personnel discovered a black male lying on ground by Building B with multiple gunshot wounds to the body and no vital signs.

STT – 12
Territory – 37
Date of death – Nov. 24
A black male, identified as 39-year-old Jermaine Godeth, was killed when he was shot in the Polyberg area, accordong to the V.I. Police Department. Officers of the Major Crime Unit were dispatched at 2:41 a.m. Sunday to Polyberg on a report of a shooting. At the scene officers found an unresponsive black male, later identified as Godeth, lying on his back on the sidewalk. Prior to the officer’s arrival on the scene EMT had found no vital signs.

STX – 26
Territory – 38
Date of death – Nov. 24
Kaiamesha Thomas, a 27-year-old working for R&T Unlimited Security Company, died late Saturday in a shooting in the Richmond area by the Charles Harwood Medical Complex, Christiansted where the modular hospital is being built. At 12:17 a.m. Sunday officers responded to a report of a person down. At the scene, the officers discovered the lifeless body of a female security guard that who working on the site. The officers also discovered several spent casings and observed what appeared to be gunshot wound about the female’s body. Emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene and were not able to locate any vital signs. Preliminary investigation revealed that Thomas was shot while at her post sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight Nov. 24 and discovered by a co-worker.

STX – 27
Territory – 39
Date of death – Nov. 29
The body of 24-year-old Roland Bogan of St. Croix was found shot to death in the roadway early Thursday in Frederiksted. At 5:35 a.m. Thursday the 911 call center received a report of a lifeless body in the roadway by the Marley Housing Community in Frederiksted. Officers and emergency medical technicians responded and discovered an unresponsive Hispanic male, identified as Bogan, with multiple gunshot wound to the body.

STX – 28, 29
Territory – 40, 41
Date of death – Nov. 29

Two men were killed and seven injured in what police said was a retalition shooting for the death of Roland Bogan, who had been shot to death earlier that day.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. Thursday night. The two men killed were identified as 66-year-old Albertos Baptise, who police believe was an innocent bystander who happened to be in the area, and 32-year-old Humberto Martinez, believed to be one of the suspects who drove up to Frederiksted Market.

STX – 30
Territory – 42
Date of death – Dec. 8
A 26-year-old St. Croix man was killed Saturday in a daylight shooting at a crowded shopping area in what the V.I. Police called a targeted shooting. The victim was identified by next of kin as Eustace Shillingford. According to police, at 11:51 a.m. officers were dispatched to a report of shots being fired in the area of the Gallows Bay Hardware store. At the scene they discovered an unresponsive black male, later identified as Shillingford, lying on the ground in the Gallows Bay area in the vicinity of the hardware store.

STT – 13
Territory – 43
Date of death – Dec. 12
A man was shot to death while driving in the area of Lilliendahl and Marienhoj. The V.I. Police Department did not release the name of the victim. The 911 call center received a report at 7:17 a.m. Wednesday reporting multiple shots in the area of Lilliendahl and Marienhoj. Officers responding to the report found a gray four-door Honda Civic in the roadway with its engine running. The officers saw multiple bullet holes in the vehicle.

STX – 31
Territory – 44
Date of death – Dec. 17
A man identified by next of kin as 32-year-old Earl C. Brown was found shot to death in an abandoned house in the Anna’s Retreat area. According to the V.I. Police Department, at 12:58 a.m. the 911 call center received a report of a body in an abandoned house. Officers responding to the scene found the body of a black male lying on the floor of the house, face down in a pool of blood. He was found to have suffered what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds to the body.

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Many residents felt forgotten and the goal is to have a low crime rate after two Category 5 hurricanes. In 2016, the FBI said the territory had the highest in the country and this can’t happen again. Tourism mostly cover the Virgin Islands and tourist should be able to visit a safe place. People need to remain strong, resilient and prepare for future disasters.

  2. Glad to get the hell off St. X!!! It looks like it would be easy to catch a stray bullet. There haven’t been 15 murders in this rural Ozark community in 150 years. There are 18 people and 8 households on my block and at least 75 firearms that I know of. I’m sure that’s well above the average but with around 1000 households here I am sure there are more than a few thousand firearms in town. Heck most of the felons and druggies have guns and yet, no gun violence. Hell, most folks around here would rather hang or asphyxiate themselves committing suicide than use their gun. After 30+ years living and traveling to St. X I’ve seen the change from a more morally conservative, slow paced culture to a more stressed, urban/inner city culture and all the baggage that comes with that type of mentality. It breaks my heart that the island that I consider such a big part of my life and all the local folks that I know and love have to suffer these changes. The urban/inner city mentality is poison to society IMHO and I see no signs of those that are living and promoting it being held to account. The vast majority of the good need to stand and fight for themselves and all that’s good before it’s to late.

  3. Check point take away all illegal firearms ? And there goes the gun violence rate down by 50%? Someof them need tobe ina mental facility? That is what you call insane? Innocent people need to.run. for cover when bullets start. flying??Every one. need to hit deck?That means the ground?And people without.guns. don’t have any protection.so they have to depend on the vipd and FBI? Case closed??