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Homicides 2010

Here is a chronological log of the homicides recorded in 2010, with statistics broken down by island. The Source does not include suicides or vehicular homicides in its listing.

(1) STX
(1) Territory
Date of death: Jan. 4

The body of 20-year-old Akeem Lee was discovered at approximately 3 a.m. Monday under the balcony of the Food Stamp office in Frederiksted. The victim was a resident of Estate Concordia.

(2) STX
(2) Territory
Date of death: Jan. 6,

Shamir James, 22 of Atlanta, Ga. was killed and another man was wounded in an early morning shooting at Chris’ Hideaway in Christiansted. At about 12:56 a.m. Wednesday, 911 received reports of shots fired at Chris’ Hideaway in Christiansted, according to the police. While officers were at the scene investigating they received word that two victims were at Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital being treated for wounds.

(1) STT
(3) Territory
Date of death: Jan. 16

30-year-old Elliot Hodge Jr. Hodge was shot and killed at about 7:37 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, near the pump house Building 7, Kerwin Terrace Housing Community.

(3) STX
(4) Territory
Date of deah: Jan. 17

31-year-old Reynaldo Marin was found dead in his apartment at the Candido Guadelupe Housing Community with at least one knife wound to the right side of his stomach following a reported domestic violence incident. Police arrested Marin’s companion, 45-year-old Carmen O’Neill, and charged her with the homicide domestic violence.

(2) STT
(5) Territory
Date of Death: Jan. 24

Police on St. Thomas were dispatched to the scene of an auto accident at around 11:22 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, on Silke Gade in Estate Savan. Arriving on the scene, they observed the driver of the vehicle involved had been shot at least once to his upper body. Emergency Medical Technicians on the scene could not detect any vital signs on the victim. The victim’s name is being is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. According to the initial report, a green Mazda Protégé driven by the victim was traveling east on Silke Gade when the driver was apparently shot. He lost control of the car, which collided into two parked vehicles. The parked vehicles received damages on the hoods, bumpers and fenders.

(3) STT
(6) Territory
Date of Death: Jan. 26.

Police on St. Thomas are investigating a homicide that occurred Tuesday, January 26 in Estate Tutu. The male victim, identified as 32-year-old Kareem George, died as a result of at least one gunshot to his body, police said. According to St. Thomas Deputy Chief Dwayne DeGraff, a firearm was found in close proximity to George’s body which was located in a residential yard. The weapon was turned over to Forensics for ballistics testing. The Medical Examiner will process the body to determine the circumstances of death.

(4, 5) STX
(7, 8) Territory
Date of deaths: Feb. 3

A 16-year-old and an adult male were shot to death in the Mutual Homes Housing Community on Wednesday. The victims were identified as 31-year-old Gary Gonsalves of Estate Grove Place and the male minor, who resided in Lorraine Village Apartments. Police were notified of shots fired minutes after 7 p.m. Wednesday. Officers arriving on the scene found the two victims with multiple gunshot wounds inside a red vehicle parked near Buildings 14 and 15.

(4) STT
(9) Territory
Date of deaths: Feb. 10

A man and woman were found shot to death in an apparent murder-suicide on St. Thomas Feb. 10, police reported. Leonardo Leonardo-Soto, 49, and 35-year-old Confesora Duarte were found dead after neighbors called 911 to report multiple shots fired in the vicinity of the former J. Antonio Jarvis Elementary School on Prindsens Gade. The neighbors then led police to a nearby home where the victims were found in the kitchen, both having been shot at least once. A .38 caliber pistol was found at the scene, police said at the time.

(5) STT
(10) Territory
Date of death: Feb. 15

St. Thomas native Jibaro A. Nibbs, 31, died from multiple gunshots while sitting in the front seat of a white Acura Integra near the Hospital Ground basketball courts just after 4 p.m. Feb. 15.

(6) STT
(11) Territory
Date of Death: Feb. 17

A man was shot at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, near Simmonds Alley. He drove himself to the downtown fire station for help and was taken to the Roy L. Schneider Medical Center, where he died shortly after 10 p.m. the same day. The victim’s name was not released pending notification of the next of kin.

(7) STT
(12) Territory
Date of Death: Feb. 18

A woman was found shot to death at an apartment at the Oswald Harris Court housing community. Police were responding to a call of shots fired at 8:49 a.m. when they discovered the body. Emergency Medical Technicians on the scene verified she had no vital signs. A “person of interest” was detained and is being interviewed by detectives, according to the V.I. Police Department.

(6) STX
(13) Territory
Date of death: Feb. 18

Orlando Clarke, 20, of Estate Williams Delight, was shot and killed in the vicinity of the Prosperity gas station near Frederiksted. Police responded to a report of shots in the area at 8:22 p.m. and found Clarke behind the station. An ambulance crew dispatched to the scene found no signs of life.

(7) STX
(14) Territory
Date of death: Feb. 27

At about 11:40 p.m. Saturday police were dispatched to a call of shots fired in the Marley Homes in Frederiksted. A male victim, later identified as 43-year-old Hernan Santos Jr. of Estate Williams Delight, died while being treated at the hospital for at least one gunshot wound to the left side of his stomach.

(8) STX
(15) Territory
Date of death: Feb. 28

At about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, police received another report of shots fired in Christiansted. According to the preliminary investigation a scuffle had broken broke out at Club 54 on Company Street. Shortly after, shots were fired in the area of Queen Cross and Company Street. A male victim, later identified as 20-year-old Javier Rivera of Estate Profit, was apparently struck by gunfire while driving his vehicle away from the area. As a result of those injuries Rivera crashed his vehicle into a building a few blocks away on Company Street. Emergency medical technicians on the scene found no signs of life on the victim.

(9) STX
(16) Territory
Date of death: March 4

Vincent "Sensi" Johnson of Frederiksted was shot and killed Thursday evening, the second homicide victim in less than a week near the Marley Homes. Johnson died of at least one gunshot wound to the upper body. Several residents told police they heard a single gunshot between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday. No one reported gunfire to the police at the time.

(8) STT
(17) Territory
Date of death: March 6

26-year-old St. Thomas resident Kevin James was slain at about 4:15 a.m. Saturday, gunned down in a vehicle while driving near the basketball court in Hospital Ground. According to the VIPD, James and unidentified others were riding in the car after leaving the Jaguars nightclub when “someone opened fire on the vehicle they were in while it was southeast of the basketball court.” Before police arrived, James was rushed in a private vehicle to Schneider Medical Center where he later died

(9) STT
(18) Territory
Date of death: March 15

37-year-old Ernst Cadet, a Haitian native and resident of Estate Nadir, was shot and killed at about 10:38 a.m. when he was leaving the Dana Mart market on Brookman Road.

(10) STX
(19) Territory
Date of death: March 16

Police were called to the Marley Apartments in Frederiksted at about 1:39 a.m. after 911 received a call at Tuesday reporting a man down. Arriving at the scene, police found 17-year-old Dupert Knowles III of Estate Campo Rico unresponsive under a tamarind tree in the area. The victim sustained at least one gunshot wound to the body. He was removed from the scene by medical personnel.

(11) STX
(20) Territory
Date of death: March 20

Miguel Morales, 22, of Estate Humbug, was found shot to death at about 6:15 a.m. Saturday in the Estate Castle Coakley area. Police investigating the crime and interviewing witnesses reported that shots had been heard around 9 p.m. Friday, but no one had called 911. The emergency reporting service had been contacted the next morning by a resident reporting a man down. Medical personnel on the scene found no signs of life on the body. In June police arrested two men, Chayanne Trinidad, 21, of Estate Peter’s Rest, and Jomar, Encarnacion, 19 of Estate Scion Farm, and charged them with the murder.

(12) STX
(21) Territory
Date of death: April 6

31-year-old Duane Bruce of Lorraine Village Apartments was found shot to death when police responded to a report of shots fired at 8:27 p.m. in Estate Consitution Hill. A man and woman told police their white Ford Bronco was carjacked by an armed man in the area. It was later found on a dirt road in Estate Peter’s Rest. The man and woman were unharmed. Police found Bruce inside a silver Suzuki Vitara. A .45 caliber pistol was found in plain sight in the vehicle. A second .45 was found later by police forensic technicians.

(10) STT
(22) Territory
Date of death: April 8

26-year-old Dion Henry was fatally gunned down at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday at the end of a street in Anna’s Fancy. Police quickly arrested Anna’s Fancy resident Jody Penn, 28, and recovered an AK-47 machine gun, a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and several hundred rounds of ammunition in the immediate area where Penn was caught, according to a VIPD statement issued late Thursday.

(11) STT
(23) Territory
Date of death: (approximately April 18)

Two-month-old Kailiah K. Bruno died on or about April 18. Her teenaged parents were arrested on May 8 and charged with first-degree murder.

(13, 14,15) STX
(24, 25, 26) Territory
Date of death: April 25

Lorraine Joseph, 40, and her daughter, Alorra Tutine, 19, both of Estate Clifton Hill, were found shot to death on a private road outside a residence in Estate Peters Rest. Tutine was reportedly prgnant, and Miles David, 46, the brother of Joseph and uncle of Tutine, was arrested at the scene and charged with the deaths of the two women and the unborn child..

(12) STT
(27) Territory
Date of death: April 25

Patrick Smith, 22, was shot to death the night of April 25 at Paul M. Pearson Gardens basketball court. VIPD Chief Rodney Querrard said police got a call reporting gunshots at Pearson at about 9:10 p.m. When they arrived just minutes later, they found Smith, a resident of Contant Knowles, lying on the court bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Smith was rushed to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where he died.

(13, 14) STT
(28, 29) Territory
Date of deaths: May 3

Police on St. Thomas say two men apparently killed each other in a shootout Monday night near the ballpark in Frydenhoj. Police said they believe Vince David, 41, and Sheldon Beausoliel, 25, “were involved in a shootout and died as a result of each others’ gunshots,” according to a statement issued Tuesday. When police and emergency medical personnel responded to the 10:30 p.m. shooting, they found David lifeless and Beausoliel barely hanging on. Beausoliel was taken to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where he died.

(15) STT

(30) Territory

Date of death: May 7

The body of 23-year-old Maliana Fleming was body found in Anna’s Retreat. According to police she died of a gunshot wound.

(16) STT
(31) Territory
Date of death: May 7

Bordeaux area farmer James "Kyie" Hodge was killed Friday. The story started around 6 p.m. Friday, when police were called out to investigate a fire in the Bordeaux Farms area. Residents also reported having heard shots being fired a couple hours before the blaze erupted, and said that a man, later identified as 40-year-old James Richard Hodge, had gone missing. While Fire Services personnel put the fire out, police — accompanied by a K-9 unit — began the search for Hodge, but as night set in and the terrain became more difficult, they suspended their efforts until the next morning, according to a V.I. Police Department release. The body was found shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, setting off a manhunt that ended that afternoon when the suspect, armed with an automatic weapons, confronted police and was shot. The suspect died of his wounds.

(17) STT
(32) Territory
Date of death: May 7

Henry Joel “Isis” Buckmire, 49, a suspect in Hodge’s death (see above), was shot by police Saturday afternoon. According to VIPD authorities, Buckmire was intercepted walking on the road; when ordered to stop, Buckmire reportedly reached for his firearm and was shot to death by police.

(18, 19) STT
(33, 34) Territory
Date of death: May 9

A Sunday evening shootout left two men dead and two others injured. Police were sent out to investigate the incident after receiving calls of shots being fired in the Cockpit/Dana Mart area on Brookman Road came in around 7:37 p.m. Sunday. The victims were Ronald Lewis of Estate Tabor and Harmony and Ajahi Henneman of Estate Anna’s Retreat. Both victims were 22-years-old.

(16) STX
(35) Territory

Date of death: May 12

A woman viciously attacked May 8 with a fire extinguisher by her ex-husband died at an off-island hospital May 12. According to a news release from the police department, the assault took place in the Cane Bay area at 1:21 a.m. May 8. The suspect, Timothy Rodney, who is originally from St. Lucia and lives in Estate Two Williams, is being held without bail at the Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility.

(17) STX
(36) Territory

Date of death: May 13

Luis Encarnacion, 22, was shot and killed May 13 outside Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School. According to St. Croix Police Chief Oakland Benta, the 911 call center received a report of two men arguing shortly before 8 a.m. As the police were responding to that call, there was a second call reporting shots had been fired. On arriving at the scene, police found Encarnacion with at least one gunshot wound. He was not responsive, and emergency medical technicians were unable to revive him. On June 9 police arrrested Gillian Narper, 32, and Kalif Flanders, 22, both of Paradise Mill, and charged them with the murder.

(18) STX

(37) Territory

Date of death: May 15

19-year-old Eston Farrel, who had been reported missing by his parents at 8:17 a.m. Saturday, May 15, was found dead later that day. Farrel, known to friends as “E-Money,” had last been seen the previous day in the Estate Golden Rock and Water Gut areas of Christiansted. About an hour after his parents filed the report, police found his burned vehicle in the Eastate Diamon area. A check of the surrounding area revealed an abandoned house. In that house police found Farrel’s body. Police are considering this death a homicide.

(19) STX

(38) Territory

Date of death: May 20

Youcari Torres, 21, suspected of breaking into a home in Estate Richmond, Christiansted, was shot and killed during a struggle with a police officer, whose name has not been released. The officer was placed on administrative leave during the investigation, consistent with department policy. According to the police, officers responding to a call about a burglary in process at 2:06 p.m. Ariving on the scene, they spotted a male individual who was later identified as Torres. A struggle ensued between the officer and the suspect. A single shot was fired during the struggle, resulting in the death of the suspect. Torres was a native of the Dominican Republic who was living in the Catherine’s Rest area.

(20) STT

(39) Territory

Date of death: June 26

Joshua Rami, 18, was shot and killed before 4 a.m. Saturday, June 26. Rami’s body was left by an unknown private vehicle at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital. Police said the victim was already dead from multiple gunshot wounds when he was dropped there. Police are continuing to investigate.







(21) STT

(40) Territory

Date of death: June 29

Joseph Ferrari, 23 of St. Thomas, died Tuesday of a gunshot wound to the head suffered during a noon shooting incident at the Tutu Park Mall parking lot. According to police, a 17-year-old suspect was arrested at about 2:45 p.m. and charged in the incident. Ferrari and another victim were taken to the Roy Schenider Hospital. The second victim was treated for a gunshot to the leg. Ferrari was declared dead after life support was discontinued shortly after 10 p.m.

(22) STT

(41) Territory

Date of death: July 2

The body of Pricilla Monique Davis, 43, was found at about 6:12 a.m. after concerned citizens called 911 around 6:12 a.m. to report a disturbance at the Frenchtown residence. When police arrived, they found Davis’s unresponsive body with "obvious" signs of trauma, according to a release from the V.I. Police Department. Davis was transported by ambulance to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Ruben Ubiles Santana, 59, was arrested the next day and charged with first-degree murder.

(20) STX

(42) Territory

Date of death: July 3




A body, later identified as Luis Roldan, was discovered in a burned vehicle near the Ralph de Chabert housing community. When officers arrived at the scene they observed the SUV engulfed in flames and the victim inside. The police made no initial determination as to the cause of death until nearly a week later, when they identified the victim at a press conference.

(23, 24) STT

(43, 44) Territory

Date of death: July 12




A shootout at 11:50 a.m. Monday, July 12, left two people dead: a 14-year-old female tourist identified as Lizmarie Perez Chapparro, and 18-year-old Shahid Joseph, a local male attending a funeral at the graveyard adjacent to Coki Point beach.

(25) STT

(45) Territory

Date of death: July 26

A 21-year-old man died at 10:12 p.m. Monday, July 26, after a noontime shooting in Estate Nadir. The shooting took place at 12:07 p.m. in the first block off the Bovoni Road, across the street from a popular lunch wagon. The victim was brought by private vehicle Monday to the Schneider Regional Medical Center in grave condition with a gunshot wound the back of his head.

(26) STT

(46) Territory

Date of death: Aug. 1

At about 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 1, 18-year-old Tamiell Griffiths of St. Thomas, was stabbed during a family dispute. She died at the Schneider Regional Medical Center. Her 13-year-old brother has been charged with murder in the incident.

(21) STX

(47) Territory

Date of death: Aug. 14

Emergency personnel responding to a housefire in Estate Whim at 9:52 a.m. found the burned remains of Jorge Parrilla, 45, resident of the small house. Witness reported seeing Edwin Encarnacion, 30, fleeing the scene when the fire broke out. Encarnacion is reported to have feuded with the victim several days earlier, and police are seeking him as a homicide suspect.

(22) STX

(48) Territory

Date of death: Sept. 7

39-year-old Joel Prime, also known as “Scooby,” was found dead with a wound to the back of his head. St. Croix police have arrested Hector Luis Mercardo, 30, and Michael Rodriguez, 33, in connection with the murder.

(27) STT

(49) Territory

Date of death: Sept. 7

34-year-old Kurwin Williams of Estate Frydenhoj died from severe head trauma Sept. 7 after being severely beaten two days earlier by three men armed with a baseball bat and sticks. Two of the three suspects have been detained in the British Virgin Islands.

(23) STX

(50) Territory

Date of death: Sept. 21

The body of Dave Martin, 41, was found at the scene of an accident in Campo Rico. Martn had been shot at least once, police said. The discovery of Martin and a carjacking led police to arrest Edwin Encarnacion, a fugitive who had been on the run since Aug. 14.

(28) STT

(51) Territory

Date of death: Sept. 30

Police responding to a 911 call reporting shots fired went to the Thomasville housing commnity, where they discovered the lifeless body of a 19-year-old man. The man’s name was not released immediatey, pending notification of next of kin.

(24) STX

(52) Territory

Date of death: Oct. 6

Police responding to a call of shots fired in Estate Mars Hill found a man on the northside of Queen Mary Highway near the hardware store. Emergency medical technicians found no signs of life. The cause of death will be determined by the medica examiner. The victim was identified as 50-year old Kenneth "Basa" Petersen.

(25) STX

(53) Territory

Date of death: Oct. 8

Police responding to a call of shots fired at 11:30 p.m. in Estate Grove Place found a car with bullet holes, and were told that a victim had been transported to Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital in a private vehicle. The victim, later identified as 20-year-old Dushane Watts, succumbed to a ginshot wound to the head.

(26) STX

(54) Territory

Date of death: Oct. 10

Police attempting to stop a reportedly stolen car in the Estate Hope area were fired on by the car’s two occupants. Police returned fire, wounding one occupant and killing the other. The wounded man was taken to the Gov. Juan Luis Hospital for treatment. An officer was hit by a deflection from the gunfire; he was not injured, but was taken to the hospital for treatment and observation. According to police, the two men are suspects in a rash of crimes, including the Oct. 8 homicide of Dushane Watts in Estate Grove Place, shots fired at another vehicle in Estate Williams Delight, and a rash of armed robberies.

(27) STX

(55) Territory

Date of deat: Nov. 4

Police were called to a disturbance at about 10 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, on Lagoon Street in Gallows Bay. Witnesses told them that two men were engaged in an argument which resulted in the shooting death of one of the men. The victim was later identified as 34-year-old Gregory Moolenaar. Moolenaar is a resident of Gallows Bay.

(29) STT

(56) Territory

Date of death: Nov. 11

Police on St. Thomas were alerted by 911dispatch operators of a shooting on First Avenue in Sugar Estate. The victim, 33-year-old Andy Roumou, was in the parking lot of his apartment complex when he was shot in his upper body by an unknown person or persons. Witnesses in the area told police they heard two shots around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. The victim was transported to the Roy Lester Schneider Medical Center for treatment and died from his wounds at about 8 a.m. Thursday.

(30) STT

(57) Territory

Date of death: Dec. 22

Police are investigating the death of 32-year-old Preston Francis, whose body was found around 9 p.m. Wednesday at an apartment in Estate Contant on St. Thomas.

(28) STX

(58) Territory

Date of death: Dec. 26

Luis Ayala, a 26-year-old resident of Estate William’s Delight, was shot and killed Sunday night, according to the V.I. Police Department.


(29) STX


(59) Territory


Date of death: Dec. 28

Police on St. Croix are investigating the murder of 23-year-old Christian Harley, who was killed by gunfire minutes before midnight Tuesday. Police were dispatched to Prince Street in Christiansted to investigate a call of shots fired. When they arrived in the area, they found a man, later identified by family members as Harley, lying in the street with several gunshot wounds.

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