St Croix Crime

JFK man found dead at abandoned school

ST. CROIX - After a resident alerted police to a body lying in the driveway of an abandoned school in Estate Orange Grove just minutes after midnight Monday, investigators found a 40-year-old man shot multiple times with no signs of life, police said.

The shooting victim was identified as Deron Francis, of John F. Kennedy housing community, located just down the hill, police said. His body was discovered in the roundabout of the abandoned Randolph Lockhart Christian School near Golden Rock Shopping Center.

He was shot multiple times and spent bullet casings were found littering the area around Francis' body, police said.

St. Croix Police Chief Christopher Howell said he could not elaborate on what was found at the crime scene or what the motive of the shooting might have been.

"The investigators are going to look at anything," Howell said.

While the immediate area surrounding the crime scene is predominantly residential, there were no calls to 911 reporting shots, Howell said. Instead, a resident walked into the nearby Ancilmo Marshal Command Station and reported the body, police said.

Francis was wearing short blue pants, a white T-shirt and sandals, police said.

Police believed the body may have been lying in the area for several hours before police were tipped off to its presence, though that still must be confirmed by a medical examiners report, Howell said.

Emergency medical technicians removed the body and forensics investigators recovered spent shell casings near the body, according to police.

Francis' death marked the 24th homicide in the territory in 2011, including two vehicular homicides. Seventeen of those have been on St. Croix.

On June 20, a husband and wife were shot to death while walking on a beach not far from Orange Grove.

While there have been three recent homicides on St. Croix, Howell said that it does not signify a major swing in crime.

"We've had these two homicide incidents but all our part-one crimes are way down, and our homicides are way down from last year," he said. "These are just some isolated incidents, and we just try to address them when they come."

Howell reminded the public that there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of murder suspects and asked the public to come forward with any relevant information.

Anyone with information can call detectives at 712-6075, 712-6037, 712-6077, or Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-8477.

What is the crime REALLY like in St. Croix? | www.LifeInStCroix.com

There is definitely a lot more crime on the west end of the island so I wouldn’t venture over to Fredricksted by yourself. If you plan on going to bars and the few clubs in Christiansted, don’t go alone. Keep in mind violent crime on St. Croix is almost non-existent. It’s the petty theft and burglaries that make the crime rate so high. Living on the east end of the island near Christiansted is probably smart. I wouldn’t let the crime rate scare you. Just don’t walk around at night by yourself. St. Croix is a small island so after just a month of living there you will know which parts of the island to stay away from.

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