Officer Francis Williams Is Charged With Homicide Deaths Of Officers Lesha Lammy And Kai Javois

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp, flanked by Police Commissioner Delroy Richards, Attorney General Claude Walker, and Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter, announced at Government House here this afternoon that the Police Department had arrested Police Officer Francis Williams Jr., pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by a Superior Court judge, and charged him with the murders of police officers Kai Javois and Lesha Lammy.

The announcement comes just under a month after officers Lammy and Javois were found dead on August 11 at a Hams Bluff beach in Frederiksted.

Mr. Williams was arrested at 1:43 p.m. today, and charged with first degree murder, first degree assault, false imprisonment, stalking domestic violence, aggravated assault, battery domestic violence, and carrying and using a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime, according to V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Glen Dratte. Bail for Mr. Williams was set at $2 million by Superior Court Judge Robert A. Molloy, and is currently in the custody of the V.I.P.D.

Mr. Williams, who had long been a suspect of the double homicide, was charged with stalking and released on $50,00 bond. Court documents made available during the force’s probable cause hearing against Mr. Williams shed light on how the V.I.P.D. was able to secure the charge against Mr. Williams, and build a case that led to the charges and arrest today.

Mugshot of Francis Williams, provided by the V.I.P.D.

According to these documents — via a statement from Detective Frankie Ortiz — Mr. Williams, obsessed with Ms. Lammy, had stolen her car keys, which he then gave back after Ms. Lammy’s mother demanded it. Just two days later — even after Ms. Lammy had declared that the relationship was over — Mr. Williams asked for her hand in marriage. She rejected him.

On July 29, Ms. Lammy and Mr. Javois were dancing together at Chris Hideaway, a popular nightclub and sports bar in Christiansted. Not liking the scene, Mr. Williams cut between the two officers and attempted to separate them. Officer Sharon Santiago, one of Ms. Lammy’s friends, told Mr. Ortiz that she grabbed Ms. Lammy to go have a drink. The two then went outside, where Ms. Lammy told Ms. Santiago that she had ended her relationship with Mr. Williams two weeks prior, but that Mr. Williams kept incessantly messaging her. She then blocked Mr. Williams phone number, but Mr. Williams used a workaround to contact her: he blocked his number from showing up on caller ID, according to Ms. Santiago.

Escalating situation 

A day before the bodies of Ms. Lammy and Mr. Javois were discovered at the Hams Bluff beach, Ms. Lammy told Ms. Santiago, Melissa Gilbert (another police officer) and her mother Mrs. Silas, about an incident between Mr. Williams and Mr. Javois.

Mr. Williams was riding with another police officer, Karishma Smith, when Mr. Williams drove the police cruiser off regular duty to the  home of Ms. Lammy in Frederiksted, and proceeded to block Ms. Lammy and Mr. Javois from leaving, according to Ms. Smith. She said that Mr. Javois was able to maneuver his vehicle around the police cruiser and went straightaway to file a police report, which was caught on surveillance camera at the V.I.P.D.’s Rainbow Complex at about 12:10 p.m. that day, according to Mr. Ortiz.

Mr. Williams became furious, hastily turning the police vehicle around and headed back to the police station in the Rainbow Complex. He then stopped at the Hannah’s Rest stop lights before arriving at the Rainbow Complex.

“Officer K. Smith indicated that, while at the Hannah’s Rest traffic light, Officer F. Williams saw [Officers Kai Javois and Lesha Lammy] in the parking lot of the police station and turned around and left the area,” Mr. Ortiz wrote.

Mr. Ortiz said although Ms. Lammy spoke to Officer Mario Christian about the incident, she failed to file a formal complaint.

Ms. Lammy, 30, joined the police force on December 13, 2010 as a police recruit. She left behind three young children. Mr. Javoi, 28, joined the force as a police recruit on May 11, 2015.