Police Detectives and employees of the Medical Examiners office at the scene of a shooting, where 29-year-old Rique Ashby and 14-year-old Aaron Ashby succumbed to gunshot wounds. Photo Credit: VIPD
Governor Albert Bryan on Thursday called on the Virgin Islands community, specifically the island of St. Thomas, to help law enforcement apprehend those responsible for the shooting of 14-year-old Aaron Ashby and his 29-year-old cousin, Rique Ashby. They were shot dead on July 9 in the Tutu High Rise area while on a job. The incident led to an outcry in the St. Thomas-St. John District, and the calls for justice have been unrelenting ever since.
Governor Bryan lent his voice to the cause during his coronavirus press briefing Thursday.
"This young man, Aaron, was cut down at the prime of his life. Not even the prime, before he had a chance to go to college," Mr. Bryan said. The governor said he spoke to the deceased boy's mother recently, who shared stories about her son. "What can you tell a mother in anguish for her 14-year-old son. This was a callous disregard for the life of a person and it's a very painful thing."
The Virgin Islands Police Department will host a press briefing today at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the department's efforts relative to the incident.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice released an updated poster with pictures of the victims, calling for persons with information to say what they know. There's also a $10,000 reward for crime-solving information.
"We're going to utilize all the tools that we have to investigate this matter," Police Commissioner Trevor Velinor told the Consortium on July 9 following the double homicide. "We have two members of our community that were killed and we want to get to the bottom of it and we want to hold those who committed this heinous act accountable."
He added, "We take this very, very seriously. A crime on one or two people is a crime on our entire community, so we're going to be addressing that."
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