A former cashier at a St. Thomas big box hardware store asked a judge for permission to change her plea on charges of grand larceny and embezzlement. The change of plea request came during a scheduled pre-trial conference before Superior Court Judge Denise Francios.
Court records say that managers at the Home Depot in Estate Donoe contacted the V.I. Police Department Economic Crimes Unit in January when they spotted irregularities in the Exception Base Reporting system. The store’s closed-circuit camera system also picked up the faulty transactions.
An employee was questioned and allegedly admitted to being responsible for the discrepancies and was relieved of her duties. Defendant Makeda Woodley-Grant told authorities she voided line item purchases on four occasions between Nov. 30 and Dec. 28, 2023, and let customers walk out of the store with $4,035.91 worth of merchandise.
Woodley-Grant was charged in March after police shared their findings with officials at the Justice Department. At Monday’s pre-trial conference, the lawyer representing Francois told Francois that her client was willing to plead guilty to a single charge of embezzlement if the court agreed to drop the remaining charges.
The terms of the deal have not yet been finalized.
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Two defendants charged with homicide were granted more time to prepare for trial on Monday. Although their alleged offenses occurred on St. Thomas, defendants Quasheem Christian and Anyah Smith both appeared via videoconference from the John Bell Adult Correctional Facility on St. Croix.
Smith was charged in connection with the drowning death of nine-year-old Ja’Queda Isaac in March; Christian faces murder charges for the fatal shooting of Chandler Heath in December. They appeared before Superior Court Judge Sigrid Tejo for scheduled pre-trial conferences.
While Christian’s on-screen presence was acknowledged by the court his lawyer failed to appear, apparently due to a travel delay. His case was rescheduled for Oct. 7.
Smith’s case has already been subject to four discovery hearings; Monday was supposed to be the latest one. Public Defender Frederick Johnson told Tejo he was still waiting to receive documents through an exchange with prosecutors.
The judge ordered the defendant to return to court Nov. 18.
