ST. THOMAS — The V.I. Police Department has launched an investigation into the death of a man found with a head injury at the former Embers Guest House in St. Thomas on Sunday, November 3.
The VIPD reported that around 911 received a call from citizens who noticed what appeared to be blood outside one of the rooms at the abandoned property. Responding officers found a Black male lying on a bed, visibly bleeding from the head. Though he showed signs of life, the man was transported by ambulance to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injury and was pronounced dead by an emergency room physician.
The man's identity is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin, and the exact cause of death will be determined following an autopsy.
The VIPD's Major Crimes Unit is leading the investigation. Authorities are urging anyone with information related to the incident to contact the Virgin Islands Police Department at (340) 774-2211, the Criminal Investigation Unit’s Major Crimes Division at (340) 714-9823 or (340) 714-9829, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
The former guest house was the base of an apparent sex trafficking operation for which 65-year old Ramona Rivera Luna faced charges of prostitution and human trafficking. In 2022, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 87 months in prison, along with over a million dollars in fines.
