Jury selection for the last of four defendants linked to the December 2021 armed robbery of Glitters Jewelry Store is scheduled to begin Monday. Two people were shot and wounded when three gunmen entered the store, taking an estimated $18,000 worth of merchandise.
One of the shooting victims — a customer — died of her injuries at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital on New Year’s Day in 2022.
Defendant Jahmar Lewis is charged with murder, grand larceny, assault, reckless endangerment and related weapons charges. Superior Court Judge Carol Thomas-Jacobs is expected to preside over the Sept. 22 jury selection and subsequent trial. Lewis was offered a chance to plead guilty to lesser charges earlier this year but changed his mind before a deal was reached.
If Lewis is convicted at trial, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison. Three co-defendants — Michiah Cozier, Junior Gonzales and Akenda Weekes — accepted plea deals from the Justice Department and are all scheduled to appear for sentencing Oct. 16.
(Note: a previous article listed the date of the Glitters Robbery at Havensight as Dec. 4, 2022. It is noted in court records as Dec. 4, 2021.)
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Three individuals charged with assault heard their fates in Superior Court on Wednesday. Two of the defendants were prosecuted separately for a single incident outside a St. Thomas nightclub in September 2024.
Court records say Anisha Petersen and Solimar Barnes were among a group of three people who got into an altercation with a woman on Sept. 21, 2024. During the scuffle, the victim told police that a gold necklace was snatched from her neck.
Petersen and Barnes were charged with grand larceny, second-degree robbery and simple assault. On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Kathleen Mackay sentenced Barnes to six months in jail followed by six months of probation; Petersen was given a suspended sentence of six months, along with six months probation.
And in a separate case, a St. Thomas delivery driver was sentenced to six months’ probation and a deferred six-month jail term after pleading guilty to assault and battery of another motorist in Hull Bay. Clyde Rawlins was arrested Aug. 28, 2024, after the victim told police about a violent confrontation that followed a near collision between his car and a box truck driven by the accused.
A cellphone valued at $1,000 was taken from the victim after Rawlins saw him taking photos of the truck when it made a stop at an area restaurant.
St. Croix Source
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