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HomeNewsLocal newsMan Pleads Guilty in 2013 Coki Point Beach Killing

Man Pleads Guilty in 2013 Coki Point Beach Killing

Craig King, a 34-year-old St. Thomas man, pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a three-year-old case in which he accepted responsibility for killing a man in retaliation for the death of his girlfriend.

According to a news release from the Attorney General’s office, King pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement to the Oct. 14, 2013, death of Jumore Lewis, 20, at Coki Point Beach.

King had been scheduled to stand trial this month on six charges – second-degree murder, first-degree assault, third-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, unauthorized use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and involuntary manslaughter – in connection with the crime, but rather than face a jury, he accepted the terms of the plea agreement.

King stood before Superior Court Judge Denise Francois on Thursday for a change of plea hearing. Under the terms of the plea agreement offered by the attorney general’s office, King entered a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter and the remaining counts against him were dismissed.

Francois accepted the guilty plea and set Jan. 10 as the date for King’s sentencing as she awaits a pre-sentence report.

King was arrested Nov. 9, 2013, following an interview with investigators. In that interview he confessed to killing Lewis. He was released from custody after posting an $89,000 bail.

According to the affidavit of V.I. Police Detective Mark Leslie Thomas, King was at the beach with his girlfriend, Akilah Godet, when a fight broke out among several persons and shots were fired. When King looked behind him, he saw Godet lying on the ground and observed that she had been shot. When King tried to pick her up, he realized she was dead.

King saw that Lewis was holding a gun and King shot at Lewis multiple times, killing him, according to Thomas’ affidavit, according to the Attorney General’s news release.

He remains on bail pending his sentencing. 

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