CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The victim of last week’s fatal stabbing had an active restraining order against his son, Mohammed Salem, who was known to be living with severe mental illness and had attacked his father on several previous occasions, according to court records.
Salem, 34, was arrested Tuesday after police said he stabbed his father to death at his home in Estate Lerkenlund, and led officers on a manhunt that ended in Hull Bay.
He was jailed with bail set at $1 million, and his charges include first- and second-degree murder, domestic violence assault, violation of a domestic violence restraining order, and use of a deadly weapon during a crime of violence.
At Salem’s initial court hearing on St. Thomas, Assistant Virgin Islands Attorney General Ramiro Orozco said Salem poses a danger to the community, and requested that bail be set at $2 million.
Mohammed Salem, 34, as he was pulled from the water near a boat ramp in Hull Bay on Tuesday.
But Territorial Public Defender Frederick Johnson said Salem is homeless and indigent, and a high bail amount does not address the underlying problem, any more than the “couple sheets of paper” the restraining order was printed on back in November.
“The system itself has not protected the family. The system itself is not helping someone who is clearly going through a mental health crisis,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the only solution “is if the government gets serious about the issue of mental health.”
The case has prompted an outpouring of sympathy from the St. Thomas community for both Salem and his grieving family. And many are calling on the government to do more to address the dire lack of mental healthcare in the territory, before another tragedy occurs.
Police described how the case unfolded in a probable cause fact sheet filed in V.I. Superior Court Wednesday.
At around 7:52 a.m., Salem’s brother called 911 and reported that Salem had attacked him and their father.
Officers responded and found 69-year-old Hakem Salem lying in the driveway, “with a trail of blood leading from one of the residence’s bedrooms. Mr. Hakem had suffered a large laceration on the right side of his throat and appeared to have suffered puncture wounds to his upper body,” according to the fact sheet.
Emergency Medical Technicians responded and concluded at 8:27 a.m. that he did not have any signs of life.
Officers interviewed the surviving victim, Mohammed Salem’s brother, who said he was getting ready to leave for work when Salem approached and tried to stab him with a “large ‘army’ style knife.”
The brother fought Salem off “and deflected being cut by the knife.” As his father came towards them, “He yelled to his father to run away, as he believed his brother Mohammed would harm their father with the knife,” according to the fact sheet.
The brother told police that Salem “repeatedly” stabbed their father with the large knife.
The brother said “that the attack was unprovoked and that this is not the first time Mohammed Salem has attacked their father,” according to the fact sheet.
The brother also said Salem had served time in prison for assaulting their father, “and his brother had been suffering from mental illness for several years.”
Court records show that Salem was charged with first-degree attempted murder on March 4, 2018, and pleaded no contest to third-degree assault under an agreement with prosecutors.
He was sentenced to serve five years in prison in March 2019, and was granted parole and released from custody in December 2020, according to the Bureau of Corrections.
Court records identified Hakem Salem as the victim in that case.
According to the probable cause fact sheet filed Wednesday, Hakem Salem appeared before Magistrate Judge Paula Norkaitis on November 16 and testified about prior incidents of domestic violence in September and October.
Norkaitis granted Hakem Salem an order of protection for 18 months, which prohibited his son Mohammed “from subjecting Mr. Hakem Salem to any form of domestic violence, including assault and battery, and the order prohibited him from carrying a dangerous weapon. The DV restraining order was active at the time of Mr. Hakem Salem’s murder,” according to the fact sheet.
In court Wednesday, Judge Van Holten-Turnbull continued the COVID-era practice of keeping detainees at the Bureau of Corrections and having them participate in the proceedings via an online Zoom videoconference.
Johnson repeatedly requested that his clients, including Salem, be brought into the courtroom, but Van Holten-Turnbull refused without explaining why.
On the courtroom video screen, Salem sat quietly while Van Holten-Turnbull explained the charges against him. But at one point he got up and tried to leave the room, and he appeared distracted and confused by the proceedings.
When the judge asked if he understood, Salem hesitated and did not speak for several minutes.
He eventually asked the judge, “who are you?” She explained, and asked again if he understood the proceedings.
Salem shook his head, and the judge asked if she should read the charges again.
“You’ll keep reading them, I still wouldn’t understand. I don’t understand,” Salem said.
Orozco said Salem refused to be fingerprinted and processed, and requested he undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Johnson said the magistrate court had previously ordered him to be evaluated, and the Department of Health was supposed to provide a report by Feb. 16, but it’s unclear if that was done.
Orozco said Salem also underwent a psychiatric evaluation before he was paroled in the previous domestic violence case.
Van Holten-Turnbull ordered Salem to undergo another psychiatric evaluation within 30 days, and said he cannot be released from jail until it is completed. The evaluation must determine whether Salem is a danger to himself or others, if he is competent to stand trial, and his state of mind at the time of the offense.
As the hearing continued, Johnson urged the judge to allow Salem to be brought into the courtroom.
Van Holten-Turnbull denied the request again, and said given Salem’s demeanor, allowing him to appear in court in person “would turn this place into a circus, we’re not going to do that.”
Police mum on reports of firearm discharge
Meanwhile, Virgin Islands Police have not responded to questions from reporters about concerns that police fired gunshots while apprehending Salem.
According to the probable cause fact sheet, officers tracked Salem from the murder scene in Lerkenlund “all the way to Hull Bay,” as residents called 911 to report sightings of him. Officers used vessels to approach Salem after he jumped into the water, “still holding a large knife in his right hand,” and he eventually dropped the knife in the water and was apprehended without further incident.
The fact sheet does not mention any use of firearms by police. But according to a published report, Martinez said gunshots were fired during the incident, but he did not give a reason why.
Police spokesman Glen Dratte has not responded to questions from The Daily News about whether Martinez or other police officers fired a gun, how many shots were fired, and if anyone has been placed on administrative leave.
The Virgin Islands Police Department remains under a 15-year-old federal consent decree, which includes oversight by a court-appointed independent monitoring team of law enforcement experts.
The order came after a series of incidents in which officers used excessive force on citizens — including fatal force — prompting a federal investigation and ongoing monitoring, which will not end until the police department can prove it’s capable of properly investigating and correcting officer misconduct.