BY CONSTANCE COOPER, REPORTER. DAILY NEWS STAFF
Published: July 3, 2010
Slaying suspect Ruben Santana
ST. THOMAS — Just after daybreak Friday, 911 operators said, a 9-year-old girl called 911 to report that her mother was screaming. Police arrived at the woman’s home in Frenchtown to find 43-year-old Pricilla Davis laying face-down, dead.
Her boyfriend, Ruben Santana, is wanted in connection with what police are calling murder.
Virgin Islands Police Commissioner Novelle Francis Jr. said that Davis was beaten with a chair and appeared to have been stabbed as well.
Santana is 6 feet tall and weighs 172 pounds. He was born in Puerto Rico and has a medium brown complexion. He is believed to be suicidal, Francis said, and police are using extra caution in their search.
V.I. Police spokeswoman Melody Rames said police have information indicating that Davis and Santana were romantically involved.
If that turns out to be the case, it would mean that Davis is the sixth domestic violence-related death in the territory this year.
On April 18, a 2-month-old girl was strangled in Bovoni housing community. Her father, 19-year-old Kaseem Bruno, is accused of wrapping the cord of a fan around the child’s neck to silence her crying and also is suspected of beating his girlfriend, 19-year-old Lilia Roumo, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the girl’s death.
On April 23, 40-year-old Lorraine Joseph and her daughter, 19-year-old Alorra Tutien, were allegedly shot by their uncle after a dispute in Estate Peter’s Rest, St. Croix, over cleaning up after a dog. The uncle, 48-year-old Miles David, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder because Tutien was five months pregnant.
On May 12, 58-year-old Iola Martin died of head trauma in a Florida hospital. Her ex-husband, Timothy Rodney, has been accused of beating her with a fire extinguisher in a St. Croix restaurant where she worked as a housekeeper.
Francis said he did not know if Santana had any previous charges for domestic violence and that he was not aware of any restraining orders involving the couple.
Francis acknowledged an increase in domestic violence incidents and urged women in violent relationships to seek help.
“I want to, once again, advise females, if they’re involved in these violent relationships that they should make every effort to seek counseling or get away from the abuse,” Francis said.
Davis died just hours after 2010 passed its halfway point. Her killing was the 44th in the territory this year. At this time last year, 31 people had been killed in the territory. The Virgin Islands had a record 56 homicides in 2009.
— Contact reporter Constance Cooper at 774-8772 ext. 364 or
e-mail ccooper@dailynews.vi.
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