Mugshot of Marina Leatham Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS — A woman on St. Thomas cut her domestic partner’s throat while he was asleep. Her partner said she had been acting out of the norm days prior.
Marina Leatham, 61, appeared before Magistrate Judge Carolyn Hermon-Percell via teleconference from the Bureau of Corrections on Monday for her advisement hearing.
Leatham was charged with first-degree assault (intent to commit murder) as an act of domestic violence (DV), second-degree assault / DV, and using a dangerous weapon during a crime of violence.
According to the victim’s statement in the probable cause fact sheet, Leatham was observed to be acting strange since a couple days prior to the incident. She was talking to herself, so the victim removed knives from her possession. After some intervention, Leatham appeared to be back to her normal self, so her partner was finally felt safe to sleep again. He said he was unable to sleep for days as he was monitoring Leatham.
On Sunday, August 22 at around 2:57 am, officers were notified about Leatham assaulting a male with a knife. The fact sheet said that the victim was awoken to a stab to his neck. He eventually disarmed Leatham of two knives. The victim attempted to get help from a nearby neighbor who was also hit by Leatham with bloodied hands to the face, according to the neighbor’s statement in the fact sheet. All the while, the neighbor said that Leatham did not say a word but stared with bulging eyes.
A week ago, Judge Hermon-Percell had postponed Leatham's hearing and ordered the Bureau of Corrections to provide mental health treatment to her after she displayed erratic behavior during the hearing. At the time, she was told by the judge that the charges against her were severe — a minimum of 2 years to a maximum of 20. Leatham appeared shook and at one point began screaming.
Considering Leatham to be a danger to the community and the alleged victim, Judge Hermon-Percell ruled on the following release conditions:
- Bail was set at $15,000 pursuant to the domestic violence law in Title 16 V.I.C. Subsection 99(b)(3), not allowing for a 10 percent provision where the use or threatened use of a weapon was involved
- Surrender U.S. Passport and V.I. driver’s license
- Not possess a firearm, ammunition, or dangerous weapons
- No direct or indirect contact with the victim
- Maintain a minimum distance of 5o feet from the victim
- Reside with a third-party custodian
- Ordered to undergo mental health evaluation prior to release.
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