TEAGUE BAY — A St. Croix hotel worker was charged with murder after detectives say he intentionally ran over a co-worker with his vehicle and killed him on Friday morning.
Hubert Lee Sr., 64, of Clifton Hill was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree murder, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
An adult male, later identified as Hubert Lee Sr., walked into the Ancilmo Marshall Command Police Precinct on Friday and reported that a co-worker fired a shot at him while he was on the way to his job at the Grapetree Bay Hotel, according to the VIPD.
Lee stated that he saw his co-worker in the middle of the road with a gun pointing and subsequently discharging the firearm at him which impacted his windshield, VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said. He also stated that he drove off, turned around and on his way out of the area, his coworker was still standing in the road with the firearm firing at him.
At 7:40 a.m., the 911 Emergency Call Center received a call from an adult male who stated
that his co-worker was struck by a white taxi van with yellow and green stripes and that the
driver left the scene leaving the victim on the ground unresponsive, police said
Emergency Medical Services technicians arrived and found no sign of life on the victim. Next of kin was notified and they identified the victim as 54-year-old, Ersdale I. Joseph of Estate Frederikshab.
The alleged perpetrator, Lee of Clifton Hill, was advised of his rights and provided a statement denying hitting anyone with his vehicle and restated that he was fired upon while on his way to work, according to police.
“Investigation revealed that this was a willful act and not an accident and Hubert Lee Sr. murdered the victim using his vehicle as the weapon,” Dratte said.
Bail for Lee was set at $1,000,000.00. Unable to post bail, he was booked, processed, and transported to the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility pending an advice-of-rights hearing scheduled for tomorrow in Superior Court.