The teen charged with killing St. Croix comedian Jordan “Dutty Heart” Jones in June 2025 has reached a plea deal with prosecutors that will see him plead guilty to second-degree murder and serve up to 15 years behind bars, according to the agreement filed in V.I. Superior Court.
Angela Javier Carmona — who was 15 when police say he killed Jones, 38, in a midday shooting on the Christiansted boardwalk, ostensibly for a gold necklace — had been scheduled to stand trial Aug. 31 on a charge of first-degree murder, which carried a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, he will face “no more than” 15 years behind bars, with credit for time served in pretrial detention since his arrest more than a year ago.
The agreement was signed July 17 — however, a change of plea hearing Tuesday has been continued to Aug. 10 to permit some revisions, according to court filings. Under the current deal, the government will dismiss all remaining counts against Carmona and he stipulates there is enough evidence to prove that he shot and killed Jones during a robbery in the vicinity of Shupe’s on the Boardwalk in Christiansted on June 5, 2025.
Additionally, Carmona will waive any challenges to the searches, seizures, arrests and statements that have taken place as of the date of the agreement.
Carmona was arrested just hours after the shooting, and in the following days the V.I. Justice Department said it would try him as an adult. He faced multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, reckless endangerment, first-degree robbery, unauthorized possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and possession of ammunition.
While he was initially found partially or not competent to stand trial by court-ordered psychological and psychiatric reports, at a hearing in May the court found they “grounded their determination on his youth and inexperience” rather than mental illness or other impairment.
“Having considered the medical reports in this case, and having heard the competing testimony of Dr. [Robin] Brannigan and the Defendant’s responses to the Court’s colloquy, the weight of evidence reflects that Defendant Carmona has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and has a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings against him,” Judge Venetia Harvey Velazquez wrote in finding that Carmona was competent to stand trial.
Carmona’s attorney, Assistant Territorial Public Defender Dwayne Henry, had also cited his client’s age as a reason to dismiss the first-degree murder charges, arguing that a juvenile defendant should not be subject to life in prison without parole. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a court must refuse to apply such sentences to juveniles, according to a motion he filed in May, but the Virgin Islands Code has no such provision. Ultimately, Harvey Velazquez denied the motion in an opinion handed down July 7.
The death of Jones, a beloved comedian, shocked the St. Croix community and prompted an outpouring of grief and outrage. Last year’s July 4 fireworks show in Frederiksted was held in his honor, with the crowd observing a moment of silence in his memory before the last rocket launched, carrying his ashes.
