The V.I. Justice Department has dropped its case against accused contract killer Quasheem Christian because their key witness was murdered and is not available to testify.
Attorney General Gordon Rhea’s motion to dismiss the case without prejudice — meaning it may be brought again — was granted Friday by Superior Court Judge Sigrid Tejo.
Christian faced first- and second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Chandler “Frenchie” Heath, 31, on Jan. 29, 2023, in the Bolongo Bay area of St. Thomas. Police at the time described it as an “execution-style” killing.
A former V.I. Water and Power Authority employee, Christian was arrested on a warrant that December while on the job in the Estate Mountain area. Jury selection for his trial had been scheduled to begin on June 9.
The dismissal comes just weeks after Christian filed a motion in limine on Jan. 22 seeking to preclude the introduction at trial of certain photographs of text messages and screenshots that Amisha Foy and law enforcement took of her phone.
The images purported to show conversations between “Quash Dan,” who law enforcement believed to be Christian, and “ME,” who Foy told police was her boyfriend, but without identifying him, according to court filings.
However, Foy was shot and killed in the early morning hours of March 30, 2024, near Market Square on St. Thomas. She was 20 years old.
Among the messages on her phone that were photographed by police was one from “Quash” that stated, “And little do u know I [expletive] protecting u behind ur back.” The recipient responded, “how?” and Quash replied, “Cause u know wa the streets be saying And u know I geh respect out yah I could make people dead or stay alive Just by what I say out here,” according to Christian’s motion.
However, the message did not show the date of the conversation, just the time, and it did not show the name of the person receiving the messages.
Another photograph shows a message from Quash, stating, “if bob ask we gone just say don bigs drop frenchy cuz dead man cant tell no tale.” ME responds, “ire bro snm babylon shouldn’t be asking no questions tho if you do the job right.” Quash responds, “yh bro ik i just need this heat off my bck done gah money on my head bro.” ME responds, “yh fam just stay on the low bro.”
Christian’s attorney, Carl R. Williams of St. Thomas, noted in the motion that with Foy dead, there was no reliable way to authenticate the messages.
“Here the Government cannot call Amisha Foy to testify to authenticate the photographs. Likewise, the Government cannot call law enforcement personnel to testify as to Foy’s understanding of their own perception of what the photographs depict. The introduction of the photographs would be impermissible hearsay,” Williams wrote.
On Friday, the Justice Department asked to dismiss the case.
“Based on the evidence currently available, the prosecution cannot proceed in good conscience at this time,” Rhea wrote in his motion to dismiss.
That came just two days after the DOJ strenuously objected to Christian’s motion for a modification of his bail of $1 million, saying in its response on March 5 that he “poses a significant danger to the community. As noted, he was sentenced for a violent crime just 68 days before the alleged execution of Chandler Heath. The nature of the charges, including the use of multiple firearms, underscores the threat he represents.”
