The man gunned down on a Frederiksted street corner Monday evening was 38-year-old Jahni Hamilton, police said Tuesday.
Police were searching for the gunmen who unloaded 49 shots at Hamilton, making him the territory’s 21st homicide of this year and St. Croix’s ninth, according to the Source Homicide List. At around 8:00 p.m., police responded to multiple calls of shots fired near Jordan’s Supermarket on King Street. They later learned Hamilton had arrived by private car at Juan F. Luis hospital dead.
Over the past 22 years, Hamilton had been arrested many times on charges ranging from possession of a controlled substance to murder. In 2003, at just 17, Hamilton was charged with robbery and assault charges after allegedly attacking an elderly woman during a break-in and robbery of her home. Hamilton, who had left school after the ninth grade, escaped the youth detention center in August and led police on a two-month manhunt before being recaptured in October. Police suspected someone had been harboring the fugitive as he was said to be clean and well-fed.
In 2011, Hamilton was charged with murder when he allegedly shanked fellow inmate Adrian Wheatley, 20, to death. The 24-year-old Hamilton pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in January 2015.
Paroled in 2021, Hamilton was arrested July 27 of that year for pointing a firearm at a man.
In early 2022, the court allowed Hamilton to attend the funeral of his brother, Odonnie Heywood, who had been shot to death with another 17-year-old boy Jan. 17. Police said Ozanie Cornelius, 27, and Ricardo Richards, 22, ambushed Heywood and Jah’ny Ledesma as they drove through Old Castle Coakley. Police suspected two other gunmen were on nearby rooftops. More than 200 shell casings were recovered from the crime scene, police said.
Hamilton was out of prison again by March 8 of this year when his girlfriend ended their relationship and put him out of her home. Hamilton returned early the next morning, kicked in the door, and pushed the woman’s teenage son before storming off. Police caught up with him at the Vegetable Market in Frederiksted, where he was charged with assault, burglary, fighting, and destruction of property. During the arrest, police found marijuana and cocaine on Hamilton. He was charged with simple possession of cocaine and possession of cannabis with intent to distribute.
In June, Hamilton agreed to plead guilty to disturbing the peace and simple possession of a controlled substance, avoiding the more serious felony charges. He was due to appear in Superior Court Aug. 29 to formally plead guilty.
Police on St. Thomas were investigating another death Tuesday as well. Jonathan Sheesley, 43, was found unresponsive in an Estate Peter yard Friday evening, police said. Circumstances of his death were still being investigated police said.
The Source Homicide List is a chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2024 in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as reported by the VIPD. Cases are broken down by island. While it 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
