From left to right, mugshots of Manuel Davis and Hector Ramos. By. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — Two inmates of the Golden Grove Correctional Facility on St. Croix were arrested today and charged with first-degree attempted murder, after allegedly conspiring to assault two fellow inmates using a machete and a knife, V.I.P.D. Public Information Officer Toby Derima has announced.
According to the V.I.P.D. news release, 42-year-old Hector Ramos and 23-year-old Manuel Davis, both inmates of the Golden Grove, were arrested and charged at 3:50 p.m. today.
Mr. Derima said an investigation into the incident revealed that on Tuesday morning, Ramos and Davis worked together to assault the fellow inmates, causing life-threatening injuries to the men. Allegedly, Ramos used a machete and Davis used a knife in the attack and subsequently hid the weapons to avoid being caught, Mr. Derima said.
It was unclear as to how the weapons got into the corrections facility. Bureau of Corrections Public Information Officer, Winthrop Maduro, told the Consortium an investigation was ongoing and that more information about the incident would be released Wednesday. Mr. Maduro did not, however, commit to providing information on how the weapons got inside. "I might not be able to go that far in detail but I have some information tomorrow about what took place," he said.
Ramos and Davis were remanded to the Bureau of Corrections pending their advisement hearing after failing to post bail of $75,000 each.
