USVI Court/Police Round-up

~~Adz:Right~~St. Thomas, USVI- A seventeen-year-old male was arrested Wednesday afternoon after police responded to a shooting incident at the Oswald Harris Court housing community and a search of the teen’s person turned up several rounds of ammunition.

The shooting occurred just after 1 p.m. and the victim, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the foot, told police he had been hit by a bullet while walking between two of the apartment buildings.

A few hours later while police were searching the area, the youth was apprehended near the scene of the incident with seven .38-caliber rounds of ammunition in his possession.

A spokesperson for the Police Force informed that no gun was found on the young man’s person but confirmed that the juvenile had been charged with ‘possession of an unlicensed firearm’.

It was not made clear whether the teen played any role in the shooting incident however forensics officers performed tests to detect gunshot residue on his hands and clothes.

Edgar Ortiz Carmona, Kaleb Josue Lopez and Carlos Acosta were arrested last week and charged with the July 16th killing of 30-year-old Dwayne ‘Gotti’ Lynch in Hospital Ground.

The three Puerto Rican men were considered a flight risk and denied bail by a V.I. Superior Court judge on Wednesday.

The men are facing life sentences if convicted of the many charges- first-degree murder, third-degree assault, first-degree assault, two counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm, failure to report firearms brought into the territory and aiding and abetting.

Police continue to search for a fourth suspect who had been driving the car that the gunmen used to chase Lynch down before shooting him.

Investigators continue to look into the men’s origins to ascertain their true identities, nationalities and dates of birth.

Authorities revealed that at least two of the suspects have existing or have faced guns and drug charges in both Puerto Rico and the US.

Police arrested 24-year-old Aneury Baez Reyna of Frenchman's Bay on Monday for the shooting of a 25-year-old man last Tuesday. He was charged this Tuesday with multiple counts of first-degree assault, third-degree assault and weapons charges.

The victim died at Schneider Hospital the same night and prosecutors filed murder charges against Reyna on Wednesday. Reyna went before the V.I. Superior Court and saw the murder charges upheld by Judge James Carroll III.
Reyna had reportedly confessed to the shooting that occurred in the Deja Vu nightclub.

He may also face additional assault and weapons charges after an of duty police officer who was present on the scene said that when he attempted to apprehend Reyna after the initial shooting, Reyna shot at him, missed and struck a club-goer. That man remains hospitalized.

On neighboring St. Croix, police have officially charged 27-year-old Dwayne Tobal with the July 16th armed robbery of the Bank of St. Croix. The Estate Campo Rico man was scheduled to go before the court today to answer to the charges that if found guilty could see him being sentenced to over 100 years in prison.

On Wednesday, attorneys for Tobal presented motions for a reduction of the $500,000 bail previously set and a pretrial release, however Assistant Attorney General Nizar Dewood asked that he be held without bail.

Tobal faces several charges for the daring ‘high noon’ bank heist including first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, grand larceny, possession of stolen property, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence, unauthorized use of a vehicle and reckless endangerment hours after the midday bank robbery.

According to Acting Police Commissioner Novelle Francis, none of the cash or jewelry stolen in the robbery has been recovered.
In the territory’s courts, four Catherine’s Rest residents previously slapped with several charges relating to the May 22nd discovery of illegal drugs and guns at two residences saw additional charges filed against them.

On Wednesday Armand Thomas, 25, Okimo Milligan, 21, Nathaniel Thomas, 21 and Andrea Soto, 20 went before Magistrate Judge George Cannon and plead not guilty to a grand jury indictment for charges stemming from the May 12 shooting incident that left Shadrach Frett hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

Police are reportedly trying to connect the group to Frett’s pre-dawn May 21st slaying when a group of heavily armed persons entered the Luis Hospital and emptied automatic weapons on 28-year-old Frett as he lay in the hospital bed.
The judge agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Alphonso Andrews’ motion that the men be held without bail until trial and scheduled a calendar call for Aug. 15 and tentatively set jury selection and trial date for September 22.

Virgin Islands Police Officer Jeffrey Browne, who along with his brother-in-law, Luis Melendez stands accused of Dec. 25 double homicide saw his motion to suppress evidence in the case denied by  V.I. Superior Court Judge Francis D'Eramo on Tuesday.

D’Eramo deemed the search of the defendant’s vehicle lawful even though officers did not possess a search warrant at the time.

Browne, 28, of Estate Richmond and Melendez, 24, of Sion Farm both are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder, four counts of first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, three counts of unauthorized use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a crime of violence and unauthorized possession of ammunition.

A date for trial has been set for November 3.