Mugshot of Miguel JnoBaptiste. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS — A 30-year-old man is again before the courts on several charges relating to the abuse of an ex-girlfriend.
In January 2023, Miguel JnoBaptiste was arrested after multiple reported altercations between him and his then-partner, as well as between him and a former girlfriend, all within the span of 10 days. Instead of prosecution, the court accepted his November 2023 application for the pretrial intervention program, which would have required the successful completion of an anger management program.
By August 2024, program officials had reported that Jno Baptiste had not been following the program, nor had he paid the required fee. The court scheduled a hearing in September of that year to determine whether the matter should proceed to trial, only to find out that the defendant had been deported to his birth country of Dominica. The court administratively closed the case, leaving an arrest warrant open for Jno Baptiste should he return to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In February 2025, law enforcement officials began to receive reports – from a third woman – about Jno Baptiste's aggression towards her.
This woman told police that she had been seeing Jno Baptiste for about two years before ending the relationship. He began showing up to her house and her job after she left him, the woman said, and began continuously threatening her life. On February 22, she reported that he had been calling her phone and threatening to kill her. He reportedly transmitted the threats directly and through one of her coworkers. Jno Baptiste also allegedly vandalized the woman's vehicle with paint.
A month later, he had reportedly broken into her home. The woman went to the police station on March 22 to report that she had spent the previous night at a medical facility. When she returned home early that morning, she found that her apartment had been ransacked, she told officers. Clothing had been removed from drawers and tossed around, her passport was missing. In the kitchen, the stove was missing its burners and gas line, while the power cords for the refrigerator and security camera had been cut.
On April 2, another police report. This time, the woman called 911 because Jno Baptiste had allegedly shown up to her residence and threatened to kill her. After he ran away when he realized she was calling the police, the woman said she went outside and found a television on the ground that had been removed from her home weeks earlier. Jno Baptiste, she said, had been breaking into her home and stealing items. He had also reportedly damaged the surveillance cameras outside her home and sabotaged another of her vehicles. On this occasion, he reportedly called the woman while she was speaking with police officers, to tell her that a female officer should have been dispatched to her call.
The woman filed another report on April 17 to say that Jno Baptiste had come back to her residence late the previous night. She had been sitting in her vehicle with her boyfriend, when a man wearing dark clothing approached from behind and opened the passenger door. She immediately recognized her ex, who was reportedly startled to find that the woman was not alone. Jno Baptiste reportedly ran away when the woman got out of the vehicle to film; returning to threaten to kill her before finally driving away.
Police were conducting traffic enforcement exercises later that afternoon and had stopped a vehicle near Nicholas “Nick” Friday drive when they recognized one of the passengers as Jno Baptiste, and asked him to get out of the vehicle.
The wanted man reportedly first tried to make a run for it. Police say that when he realized he would not be able to flee, he unsuccessfully tried to grab the firearm from the belt of the nearest officer. Once detained, Jno Baptiste reportedly attempted to injure himself while in his holding cell, telling those within hearing range that he would prefer to kill himself than go back to jail.
Jno Baptiste was charged with third-degree burglary, aggravated stalking, harassment, and destruction of property — all as crimes of domestic violence. He was also charged with third-degree robbery, vehicle tampering, possession of stolen property, delaying and obstructing, and disturbance of the peace. He was held on $75,000 bail to await his advice of rights hearing.
In court on Saturday, Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull ordered that bail be reduced to $20,000, with Jno Baptiste required to post 30 percent – $6000 – in cash in order to secure his release ahead of trial. If he is able to post that sum, he will be required to report to the probation office twice a week in person. Jno Baptiste will be restricted from travel outside the St. Thomas-St. John district, and prohibited from using alcohol or other controlled substances while the matter is pending. He will also be required to stay at least 50 feet away from his former girlfriend at all times, and is explicitly banned from going to her home and workplace, as well as contacting her through her friends, family, and coworkers.
The next court appearance for Jno Baptiste is scheduled for May 9.
