Police Make Arrest In Watergut Double Homicide

ST. CROIX — V.I.P.D. detectives this morning arrested the prime suspect alleged to have been involved in the double homicide incident near the Water Gut shanty that rocked this island in March.

According to Police Commissioner Delroy Richards, 25-year-old Noel Boyd, above right, of Lorraine Village, was arrested this morning without incident at the Croixville Apartments, where he has family.

The arrest marks a tireless effort by the Police Department to apprehend and prosecute Mr. Boyd, who Mr. Richards said was on the force’s radar as the chief suspect in the incident from the onset. However, proper investigation needed to occur before an arrest could be made.

Unable to make bail of $1 million, Mr. Boyd was remanded to the Golden Grove Correctional Facility pending his advise-of-rights hearing.

“We knew from the first day of the double homicide who the potential suspect was,” Mr. Richards told The Consortium today. “But obviously we had to develop a case, which we did, and we were able to get the warrant and we executed the warrant.” The commissioner commended detectives for the successful investigation, and said he was certain that the right person was captured today.

“I know we have the perpetrator in custody and we’re moving forward now with the trial stage. Like I said before, we wanted to be certain and not jump to any additional conclusion, so we developed the case, developed the affidavit, got the warrant and now we’re moving towards the court case,” he said.

Mr. Richards assured residents who have lost loved ones through gun violence that justice, though delayed, will come in time; as the V.I.P.D. never closes homicide cases.

“We continue to work on cases,” the commissioner said. He noted the April 2015 homicide of Terrence Moorehead, gunned down at the Super Tanker Service Station located in Sunny Isles, as proof that justice will be served to those involved in criminal activity.

“The Moorehead case took a while, but we are pursuing all those cases and there’s a lot of evidence that we rely on and we don’t get the results overnight. But we never, never close homicides,” the commissioner concluded.

During the afternoon of March 28, multiple gunshots rang out near the Watergut Shanty in Christiansted, leaving two men dead and one hospitalized.

The incident occurred at about 5:20 p.m., and officers immediately descended on the area, which was swarmed with residents of the neighboring housing communities. Mr. Richards said preliminary information received revealed that the suspect was sitting in his vehicle, suddenly got out and opened fired on the victims, who were playing dominoes. The assailant, according to an eyewitness, fled the area through Red Brick.

At the time, Mr. Richards said police had a lead on the suspect and an active search was underway.

A Consortium reporter witnessed emergency medical technicians examining the two victims for signs of life, however none was found. Multiple officers were also in the area investigating the crime scene, while others hustled westward in search of the assailant.

The homicide victims were identified as 33-year-old Kayan Payne and 29-year-old Kanta Payne of Estate Grove Place.

They were brothers.

Both men sustained multiple gunshot wounds about the body. The third victim was later identified as Harold Willock Jr., who sustained a gunshot wound to his foot.