CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A former VIPA peace officer was found shot to death near the trash dumpsters by Crown Mountain Road early this morning, authorities said.
The 911 Emergency Call Center received a call of a man down in Estate Dorothea in the vicinity of the dumpsters at 4:51 a.m. today, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Bill John-Baptiste, 49, a former Virgin Islands Port Authority officer convicted of kidnapping in 2012, was positively identified as the homicide victim, according to the VIPD and public records.
“Officers traveled to the area and found an unresponsive Black male with multiple gunshot wounds,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said.
Emergency Medical Technicians on the scene made a check of the victim and found no signs of life, Derima said.
In May 2012, John-Baptiste was sentenced to five years in prison for kidnapping in a highly publicized public corruption case also involving two former VIPD police officers — Enid Edwards and Francis Brooks.
St. Thomas/St. John District Chief of Police Steven Phillip is encouraging the community to come forward with information.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact police by calling 911, the Criminal Investigation Bureau at (340) 774-2211, or anonymously and confidentially to Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-TIPS. You can get a reward for your tip that leads to an arrest.