In a court action that took about five minutes, Ian Tracy pleaded not guilty Thursday morning to charges of first-degree murder and weapons violations. Tracy's attorney, Treston Moore, entered the plea before Territorial Court Judge Ishmael Meyers.
Tracy, 19, has been charged with the shooting death of Adassa Rolle on Dec. 31, 2000. He was arrested Jan. 8 and was to have been arraigned last Thursday, but prosecutors at that time asked Judge Audrey Thomas-Francis for three more weeks to file the information containing charges against Tracy. Thomas-Francis gave them one week.
Moore asked for a speedy trial, and Meyers granted a request to waive the reading of the charges against Tracy. Meyers set Feb. 28 to hear discovery, when the government will provide the defense with basic documentation of why they are charging Tracy. He set March 14 for the defense to enter any motions.
Tracy sat quietly in the courtroom, flanked by Moore and his mother and stepfather, Pam and Stephen Carpenter. He is free on $300,000 bail.
Tracy has told police that he and Rolle — his girlfriend before he left St. Thomas to attend Middlebury College in Vermont last year — were parked at Green Cay Plantation on the night she was murdered. He said a man tried to rob them, and stuck a gun in the car window. He said he struggled with the gunman and several shots were fired. Rolle was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head. No weapon has been found in the case.
Tracy is a former honor student and senior class president at Antilles School. At his probable cause hearing Jan. 9, police said Tracy's description of what happened on the night of the murder didn't correspond with evidence found in the vehicle that Tracy said he and Rolle were sitting in.
Moore said earlier this month that forensic evidence could well corroborate Tracy's account of what happened. He said at the time that Tracy has adamantly insisted on his innocence.
