Police ‘connecting the dots’ as 2 business people are killed similarly

Police say that robbery does not appear to be the motive in the shooting in Belmont Friday night that left three people, including a businesswoman, dead inside her shop.

Investigators, however, have noted the similarity to those killings and one three days earlier when a businessman was gunned down on the patio of his home in Green Hill around noon on Tuesday.

“… while we are not ruling out the possibility of anything, on the face of it, it doesn’t look like it,” Deputy Commissioners of Police Frankie Joseph said at a press conference in Kingstown on Saturday, when asked if robbery was a motive in the killings.

He said he had instructed acting Assistant Commissioner of Police with responsibility for crime fighting, Trevor “Buju” Bailey, to head the investigation into the triple homicide.

Around 8:30 p.m. Friday, Lesline Davis and her patrons, Joel Browne and Demeon Cumberbatch, were killed in the shop when gunmen entered and began firing indiscriminately before fleeing the scene.

A 7-year-old boy, said to be one of Davis’ relatives, and an adult male were also injured.

On Tuesday, Stephen King aka King-O, 76, of Green Hill, was sitting on the patio at his home, near where he operates his appliance business, when a gunman approached him.

Neighbours heard King shouting, “What I do you? What I do you? Please don’t kill me!” as the gunman opened fire on him then fled, leaving the mortally wounded businessman behind.

King was rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, where he died shortly after.

‘dismay and … disbelief’

Bailey told the media at Saturday’s press conference that a lot of people have expressed “their dismay and the disbelief that such an event can take place at that time of the day, almost midday in the community”.

He said the public was cooperating with police in their investigation and he urged people to give the police any information that they think could assist the investigators, promising that it would be treated “with the strictest degree of confidentiality”.

Bailey said the killings in Belmont were “shocking, not only to us as law enforcement, but to the entire country of St. Vincent and Grenadines, where masked men entered the shop and, indiscriminately, they fired upon all of the occupants who were in the shop, resulted in three deaths, two injuries”.

He said the killings should not go unsolved and urged the public to continue to cooperate with the police, adding that up to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, police had received about 60 phone calls with information.

“Let us investigate this matter together in a partnership … Each and every victim of this crime deserves justice, and the justice should be swift and uncompromising, aided and abetted by the entire country of St. Vincent in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” Bailey said. 

‘we are connecting the dots’

Responding to a question about the likelihood of the Belmont killing being a random act, Bailey said that investigators met at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, about five hours after leaving the crime scene.

“We looked at the killing in Green Hill. We looked at the killing last night in Belmont, and preliminarily, we have seen some similarities,” Bailey said, adding that he could not go into details.

“… but we are connecting the dots. We are seeing things that are of interest to us, and as I said, we will pursue them to the very end. But we’re seeing some similarities. We have been able to connect some dots.

“The dots, when connected, will create a line. A line drawn on the map will take us to several places, and we are prepared to go there.”

It was noted to the detective that within the space of three days, two business people, both of them sole traders, were shot and killed in circumstances in which it appeared that their assailants did not demand anything.

He was asked what he would say to other sole traders or business people, generally, who might be wondering if they might be next.

Bailey noted the state’s responsibility to ensure public safety, but said that individuals should also report to the police if they think they might be at risk.

“So, if there are persons who have received threats, if there are persons who know that they or their family may be involved in any sort of conflict with side A or side B, rather than keeping information within their circles, … include law enforcement at an early stage so you can have some sort of intervention,” Bailey said.

Bailey said the investigations were still in their infancy, but detectives were pursuing all leads.

“It will be premature of me to say at this stage, the exact line of inquiry that we are pursuing,” he said, adding that at least 15 officers were in the field pursuing leads into the Belmont killings.

“So, I do not wish, at this moment, to say to you that we are doing XYZ, but just to say that the public has been giving information, and we are extremely grateful, and we are pursuing those…”

Serious issue of unlawful firearms

Bailey said that as a resident of SVG whose family walks the streets of the country, he shares the concerns of the public.

He said the police force “will dispense its resources to the full extent to provide the citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines the security that as far as we can give and we will go even the extra mile, we’ll put in the extra hours to ensure citizens’ security.”

Bailey said he was “deeply disturbed” by the use of firearms in the country.  

“We have a serious issue with regards to firearm offences in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” he said, adding that while police have made some dents through arrest and seizure, there are still too many firearms in the wrong hands.

“…  we have firearms that are taking people’s lives. And I appeal to the general consciousness of St Vincent and the Grenadines that it is before all of us eyes what these illegal firearms are doing to our society, to our communities.”

He said it is the general responsibility of every resident to help ensure that SVG remains “a safe place for all of us, our children and our families, to go about their daily lives in an environment that is relatively safe”.

Police understand the ‘shock and the fear’

Meanwhile, Joseph said the police understand the “shock and the fear” that the killings have caused in the country.

“… we want to assure the public that this matter is being treated with the utmost urgency and seriousness,” said Joseph, who was leading the police force in the absence of acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams, who was overseas.

“Our officers and investigators are working around the clock to gather evidence, interview witnesses and determine exactly what happened,” Joseph said.

He said that although the investigation was in its early stages, the police were holding the press briefing to keep the public informed.

SVG recorded five homicides in three days, bringing the homicide count this year to 15, following 54 in 2024 and a record 55 in 2023.

On Wednesday, Ronaldo Adams, 21, of Glen, died in the hospital after being chopped multiple times during an altercation, allegedly over plumrose.

On Saturday, Bailey announced that police have charged DeAndre McDonald, a 26-year-old barber, also of Glen, with murder in connection with Adams’ death.

McDonald is expected to appear in court in Kingstown on Monday.