BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – INROADS seem to have been made into the shooting death of Stancia Lake with the recent arrest and formal charging of a St. Peter’s resident.

The murder, which shook the Village community and by extension, the Federation, occurred last Saturday (Aug. 8) when, according to reports, the lass was shot while in a Wigley Avenue home combing the hair of one of her male friends. Reports also suggest that a gunman stuck his hand through the window of the room in which they were and opened fire; however, the friend was able to escape the incident unscathed.

It was reported the Lake was struck in the head by one bullet and was pronounced dead on scene.

A communiqué disseminated by the Police Force Press and Public Relations Office indicates that an autopsy was performed on Lakes’ body on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 by Barbadian forensic pathologist, Dr. Stephen Jones, who conclusion that the Basseterre High School student died as a result of “gunshot injury to the head”.

The press release further informs that contrary to inquiries which suggested that Lake was “shot through a bedroom window by someone on the outside”, further investigations imply that that scenario may be an inaccurate account of the incident.

Resultantly, the press release indicates that a 17-year-old from the Lower Monkey Hill area was arrested and formally charged with Lake’s murder yesterday (Aug. 14). He was taken before the court and was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison in Basseterre.

Lake’s demise took the Federation’s murder toll for the year to 18. In 2008 the murder rate stood at 23, the highest recorded in the Federation’s history.