Double Murder... anyone else hear about this?

We have unconfirmed reports of a double homicide at Coki Beach in St. Thomas this morning. Allegedly one 14 year old girl on her birthday on the Carnival Victory was gunned down along with a local. If you have any information please comment below.

Got this off of a St. Thomas blog on my Facebook....

We have unconfirmed reports of a double homicide at Coki Beach in St. Thomas this morning. Allegedly one 14 year old girl on her birthday on the Carnival Victory was gunned down along with a local. If you have any information please comment below.

 

Got this off of a St. Thomas blog on my Facebook....

http://stthomassource.com/

The news article refers to a 14-year-old female tourist but nothing more specific yet.

Thanks, was looking for anything to confirm it. Was hoping it wasn't true... very sad. My heart goes out to them, whether it was a Carnival cruiser or not, it didn't say. But, I do know that the Victory is in St. Thomas today... have family on the ship.

Very, very tragic.

I don't know how current the web cams are, but the ship is still there if the web cam is accurate.

How awful. I feel so bad for the family.

I think the Carnival Victory is the only ship in St. Thomas today. Since the victim was listed as a tourist, there's a good chance it was a Carnival cruiser. I know from the webcam (if it's accurate), the Victory is still docked there. :(

How awful. I feel so bad for the family.

Me too. St Thomas is a very dangerous place but many people don't know that. I have a friend that just moved from there and he said there is so much gang activity. His words were, "You could not go there without me or another native. They have sentries placed everywhere and if a tourist renting a bike or a car where to turn down the wrong street it would be bad."

My heart and prayers goes out to the families. Thankfully, I cannot imagine their pain. The parents of that 14 yo must be unconsolable. I know I would be.

Me too. St Thomas is a very dangerous place but many people don't know that. I have a friend that just moved from there and he said there is so much gang activity. His words were, "You could not go there without me or another native. They have sentries placed everywhere and if a tourist renting a bike or a car where to turn down the wrong street it would be bad."

 

My heart and prayers goes out to the families. Thankfully, I cannot imagine their pain. The parents of that 14 yo must be unconsolable. I know I would be.

This is so sad. The area around Coki is pretty rough. When we stay on St. Thomas we walk to the beach and we walk quickly for that last stretch just before the entrance. But once we're on the beach I've never felt unsafe.

Me too. St Thomas is a very dangerous place but many people don't know that. I have a friend that just moved from there and he said there is so much gang activity. His words were, "You could not go there without me or another native. They have sentries placed everywhere and if a tourist renting a bike or a car where to turn down the wrong street it would be bad."

 

My heart and prayers goes out to the families. Thankfully, I cannot imagine their pain. The parents of that 14 yo must be unconsolable. I know I would be.

So sad. A former coworker of mine used to live in st. Thomas and she said the crime is unbelievable there - it's just that they usually manage to hide it from the tourists. Her words, "in the time I lived there I didn't know one person who wasn't robbed, raped, or shot." :( One of the most beautiful places on earth but kind of gives you a different perspective.

Condolences to the families of those involved.

Me too. St Thomas is a very dangerous place but many people don't know that. I have a friend that just moved from there and he said there is so much gang activity. His words were, "You could not go there without me or another native. They have sentries placed everywhere and if a tourist renting a bike or a car where to turn down the wrong street it would be bad."

 

My heart and prayers goes out to the families. Thankfully, I cannot imagine their pain. The parents of that 14 yo must be unconsolable. I know I would be.

I think your friend might be exaggerating quite a bit.

It makes me wonder if I should take an excursion to St John instead on my cruise next week

It makes me wonder if I should take an excursion to St John instead on my cruise next week

Honestly, you'll probably be safer next week than you would have been last week. The police will be all over this as will the law abiding locals who depend on tourism. And the Red Hook ferry to St. John is close to where this happened anyway.

I think your friend might be exaggerating quite a bit.

That may be a bit exaggerated but even locals have warned us not to go off the beaten path alone. Once, our "regular" cab driver asked if we minded him making a stop and we went into a residential area to pick up his son and were given some nasty looks as we drove down the road with him. Having said that I'd still go back although I will reconsider walking to Coki. It is creepy and you do get "looks" I would never walk there w/o my husband.

Be aware that St Thomas and also some other Islands in the Caribbean are not all sun, fun, and smiles. The crime rate in St Thomas is very high. Do not wander off the beaten path either by car or on foot. As the economy gets worse crime generally rises. Drug use and sales abound in the Caribbean. This incident sounds quite like"in the wrong place at the wrong time", it is rare for a tourist to be a target of violent crime in such a public area.

My prayers are with this family at such a terrible time,

B.

Our daughter got married on St Thomas and we had 2 wedding guests murdered the night before the ceremony. It's not smart to go outside of the tourist areas at night.

It was so sad. Young men in their 20s.

On the site stthomasblogdotcom this is discussed. There is a link to a tweet post and a photo of a letter that appears to be form the captain on the ship.....confirming the story. If it is a legit photo/letter it truly is a terrible tragedy.

Our daughter got married on St Thomas and we had 2 wedding guests murdered the night before the ceremony. It's not smart to go outside of the tourist areas at night.

 

It was so sad. Young men in their 20s.

I'm so sorry to hear that. How long ago did it happen?

http://www.vimovingcenter.com/talk/read.php?4,141676,141677,quote=1

In searching for more information, I ran across these comments and was stunned to find this comment: "let us all seriously hope CNN and any other major network doesn't get wind of this."

:(

I mean, REALLY? As a tourist, this IS something I want to know about. Sure, crime is everywhere and you have to be careful no matter where you are, but apparently this girl was on a BUS or some kind of vehicle en route to the beach. Completely random gunfire in the streets..... something tourists should be informed of, IMO....

This is very scary. My family and I are cruising 7/20, St Thomas included. Were there 3 yrs ago, went to Coki Beach. The area is kind of shady. Will probably go to St John instead. So sad, prayers to the families

Wow, this is such sad news. We were there 2 weeks ago. I did not realize that the area had so much crime and gang activity. My heart goes out to the familes.

We have been in St. Thomas a couple times and I never knew that there was a crime problem. I do think that they need to warn people better.

I am staying here for my honeymoon right now, and they just showed this on TV, confirming it was a 14 yr old girl from the Carnival Victory.

My fiance and I discussed going to Coki this morning, but the shady area keeps me from wanting to ever go back. Glad we did not head there. I feel safe at other places, like Magens or even Sapphire where we went today. I visited Coki before and went to Coral World last week, just disgusted by the way it looked and some of the people who hung out there - Now I definitely won't go there again!

I think your friend might be exaggerating quite a bit.

Her friend is not exaggerating. My brother lived there for one year and was robbed 5 times, my SIL was robbed 3 times. They could not get back to the states fast enough.

You would think that with the crime being so high that the cruise lines would not go there. The port must give them a really good deal to stay there.

How tragic!!!

The cruiselines will continue to stop at questionable ports until pax tell them, loud and clear, they won't go to those ports.

Having said that many pax visit St Thomas with no adverse effects. Those port cities know that without tourism they might as well fold up their tents.

I would hope this situation would stimulate the local government to come down hard on those criminals that threaten the very livlihood of the islanders.

Here is the governor's reply to shooting today.

http://www.governordejongh.com/blog/2010/07/Governor-Responds-to-Shooting-Incident-at-Coki-Point.html

The Government House Blog

Governor de Jongh Responds to Shooting Incident at Coki Point

Posted by Jean Greaux on July 12, 2010 at 6:40 PM AST

Governor deJongh released the following statement this afternoon following the tragic shooting incident that took place earlier today at Coki Point on St. Thomas:

Listen to the Governor's Remarks .mp3 (2MB)

The tragic incident which took place at Coki Point resulted in the deaths of two young people is a shock to all of us here in the Virgin Islands. We grieve for them and their families. All Virgin Islanders share in the sorrow of such a senseless loss of life. One of today’s victims was a young girl, 14-year-old Lizmarie Perez Chapparro, a visitor to our island who was innocently caught in the crossfire that involved the other victim, 18-year-old Shahid Joseph and other unknown persons who used the occasion of a funeral to wage street justice and settle their differences.

Today’s fatal shooting is yet another reminder that we, as a community, must step up our efforts against those who have chosen violence as a way of life. It is not civilized and does not have any place in our society.

Today’s tragedy was caused, as have other recent acts of violence, by those who believe they can take the law into their own hands. But they cannot and they will not. Within minutes of the shooting, police took three persons into custody for questioning and have circulated information across the community about another possible suspect who was driving in the vehicle which opened gunfire on Shahid Joseph.

This trend of senseless killings by some of our young people will not end until parents and guardians stop being enablers. Stop ignoring the fact they are bringing illegal guns into their homes or accepting the angry behavior they exhibit and so easily act upon. The police continue to do their jobs as we see increases in the number of guns taken off the streets and as was witnessed by the quick action in taking into custody potential suspects.

What we are experiencing today is the result of many years of neglect which we can no longer tolerate. Everyone must rise up against those who continue to wage violent crime on our streets.

We must offer them no aid, no protection, no cover and no mercy. We must close ranks against those who respect neither life nor law.

With your continued help we will bring an end to the violence that some have chosen as a way of life.

http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2010/07/12/police-issue-wanted-poster-double-homicide-suspect

42 deaths so far this year?? wow!