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St. John Business Community On Edge

Jan. 8, 2009 – Some St. John business owners said Monday's murder of Cap's Place owner Juan Ayala, who may have been targeted because he might have carried cash, made them worry about their own vulnerability. However, others said it pointed to the larger social problem on St. John.
"This murder is the effect of years and years of neglect of petty crime," Lonnie Willis, who owns several businesses on St. John, said Wednesday.
Police Commissioner James McCall said Thursday that Ayala's murder is still under investigation. No one has been arrested in connection with the crime.
Ayala also owned the Pony Bar on St. Thomas.
Since no has been arrested, it remains unknown if the perpetrators wanted money for drugs, as is often a factor in the island's violent crime.
Willis said that a crack house sits near her business. She said that she's told the police many times about it and offered her business as a place to set up surveillance, but the police have ignored her offer.
"They weren't interested," she said.
Deputy Police Chief Darren Foy said the house sits on private property, and the Police Department is working with the Licensing and Consumer Affairs and Planning and Natural Resources Departments to try to clean it up.
"We are working on it," Foy said.
Drugs of many sorts are freely available on Cruz Bay's streets, Willis said, but she said there is no attempt to clean up this problem.
McCall said the department is aware of the problem and is trying to be proactive about it. He said this issue and others are under investigation.
"We do take these things seriously," he said.
Willis called for legalizing sale of drugs to adults to take the profit out of the business. She said people who want drugs will get them whether they're legal or not.
"It won't create one new addict," she said.
Willis said that instead of spending money on drug wars, the money could better be spent on rehabilitation.
At the other end of the island in Coral Bay, Lorelei Monsanto, who owns a gift shop at Bordeaux, said Ayala's murder made her nervous because there is no police presence in Coral Bay. A trailer bought for the purpose sits empty.
"When people see policing, it curtails crime to some degree," she said.
McCall said that trailer moves around depending on need. He said that a permanent police station for Coral Bay is still in the works, but it will house other agencies as well.
Monsanto worries that someone could target her or any other business owner.
Moe Chabuz, who owns Skinny Legs Bar and Restaurant, said Ayala's murder also has made him nervous.
"You have a business and you know there are criminals out there," he said.
One Cruz Bay business owner, who did not want to be identified, said that business owners must be discreet when it comes to carrying cash. Citing other St. John murders, he said that the word gets out concerning who keeps cash around.
As for the social issues that led to the murder, several people said they saw it as one of the many changes that have hit St. John in recent years.
"But why resort to murder?" Willis asked.
She predicted that as the territory's economy worsens, St. John's crime problem will get worse.
Chabuz pointed out that in addition to the affect on the community, Ayala's murder has put the people who worked at Cap's Place out of work.
He did note that it was good that school was still out for the holidays when the murder happened shortly after 8 a.m. because the neighborhood is filled with children who may have been walking to school.
Willis and Monsanto called on the St. John community to come together to combat the island's crime problem.
"But I'm devastated for this man's family," Willis said, summing up the feelings of many in the St. John community.
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