Shell Casing Of Officer Williams’ Police-Issued Gun, Fingerpints, Found At Hams Bluff Crime Scene, Court Documents Reveal

ST. CROIX — New court documents in the V.I.P.D.’s case against Officer Francis Williams, who the police force has charged with murdering his fellow officers Kai Javois and Lesha Lammy, brought to the fore new information that allowed the V.I.P.D. to levy the charge against the suspect, including fingerprints and a gun’s shell casings evidence.

The police-issued weapons of Lammy and Javois (Ms. Lammy carried as .40-caliber Model 22 Glock pistol with serial number NHX460, while Mr. Javois carried a .40-caliber Model 22 Glock pistol with serial number BADZ576) have not been recovered, according to an affidavit written by Police Detective Frankie Ortiz, who wrote the initial affidavit charging Mr. Williams with stalking. But investigators working on the case managed to collect enough evidence that a judge agreed was enough probable cause to keep Mr. Williams in custody pending trial, on $2 million bond.

Mr. Javois and Ms. Lammy had made known to another police officer, Malissa Fraser Jacobs, their intention to hike to the Lighthouse in Hams Bluff on August 11. However, after not answering their phones at about 1:08 p.m. that day, Ms. Jacobs called her husband, Officer Rodolfo Jacobs, expressing concern that the officers were not responding to their phones, according to the affidavit.

Mr. Jacobs, along with officers Anthony Drew and Keisha Benjamin, drove to Hams Bluff in hopes of finding the officers. Their search was unsuccessful and they decided to leave the area. But making their way out, they were stopped by two people in another car, who said that there were two dead bodies on the beach. With the new information, the officers made their way to the beach and discovered the bodies of Ms. Lammy and Mr. Javois. Ms. Lammy’s body was found in the sand while Mr. Javois’ was found about 17 feet away on a rock, according to court documents.

Mr. Javois was shot in the head and upper body; Ms. Lammy was shot several times in the upper front portion of her body, according to court documents. Investigators found a .40-caliber shell casing around 12.6 feet from Javois’ head. They also found fingerprints on the driver’s side door of Mr. Javois’ vehicle, as well as the front and rear passenger doors, Mr. Ortiz wrote. Police examined the fingerprints to determine whether they matched that of Mr. Williams that was taken after he was arrested, and a fingerprint specialist determined that the ridges matched.

Police had visited the home where Mr. Williams resided to speak to him about the double homicide. Mr. Williams refused to leave the house, but his mother came out and told the officers to talk to Mr. Williams before he hurt himself, according to court documents. Officers called for Mr. Williams, who eventually appeared, locking the screen door and refusing to go outside. Detectives then called Mr. Williams half-brother, retired Officer Carlton Wakefield, who then convinced his brother to go outside and talk to the officers. Mr. Williams went outside with his hands up, stating that he was not armed, but the officers told him that they only wanted to speak with him.

Retired Officer Wakefield then told the officers that he had his brother’s police-issued firearm on the backseat of his vehicle. The weapon recovered by police in Mr. Wakefield’s vehicle was a .40-caliber Model 22 Glock pistol with serial number KLC862, which was the weapon issued to Mr. Williams by police, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also revealed that Mr. Williams owned a personal firearm — .40-caliber Model 27 Glock pistol with serial number NGA455.

After retrieving the weapon from Mr. Wakefield’s vehicle, police performed ballistic tests on it to determine whether it was the same gun used at the crime scene, based on the shell casing that detectives had collected. Police say the casings matched.

“There was sufficient agreement of individual characteristics to conclude that they were both fired from the Glock Model 22, S&W, semi-automatic Pistol serial number KLC862, Officer Francis Williams Jr.’s departmental issued service firearm,” Mr. Ortiz wrote. The test was performed by firearm examiner Reynold DeSouza.

Mr. Williams’ arrest was announced on Thursday afternoon by Governor Kenneth Mapp at Government House in St. Thomas. Mr. Williams, now on leave without pay, was 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.