Friday, July 9, 2010

St. Croix, US Virgin Islands: 18-year-old pleads not guilty in girlfriend’s shooting

BY DANIEL SHEA, DAILY NEWS STAFF
Published: July 8, 2010

ST. CROIX — A man who recently turned 18 and was promptly charged as an adult pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault before V.I. Superior Court Magistrate Judge Miguel Camacho.

Police said when they arrived at a home in Estate Two Williams March 19, they found Jahzeel Fenton standing over a woman with a gunshot entry wound in her lower back and an exit wound in her stomach.

Fenton, at the time 17 years old, was screaming at the woman lying in the hallway, who was his 34-year-old girlfriend, according to police, who said he shot the woman in front of three of her four children — ages 1, 2 and 4.

Complications resulting from the injury have left the children’s mother with permanent damages. She lost a kidney, part of her small intestines, and her left leg was amputated below the knee, according to court documents.

Police had received a 911 call at 8:57 a.m. reporting a domestic disturbance and were on the scene within minutes, because officers had responded to a number of similar calls at the address previously, St. Croix Deputy Chief Christopher Howell said at the time.

When officers arrived, Fenton was hovering over the woman and screaming at her, according to the affidavit written by Detective Sgt. Deborah Jack.

After the woman’s three sons were removed from the premises, police spoke with neighbors, Jack said.

One neighbor told investigators she heard the woman start screaming and then what sounded like a gunshot. Fenton went into the back yard and re-entered the house, the witness said.

Police obtained permission to search the premises and found a .357-caliber Magnum revolver under the pump house, Jack said.

The woman was still conscious when police arrived, but she was unwilling to answer questions about what happened, Howell said.

The woman was taken to Luis Hospital where she underwent two surgeries, police said.

She was transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for further treatment, where she remains in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit, a hospital spokesperson said.

The woman’s four children are in the custody of relatives, said Department of Human Services spokeswoman Monifa Stout.

Fenton will next appear before Superior Court Judge Harold Willocks on Oct. 8 for a calendar call.

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