A Festive Celebration Devolves Into Stalking and Violence
By JOHN McCARTHY / V.I. Free Press News Reporter
CHARLOTTE AMALIE — What began as an early morning trek to enjoy the St. John Festival carnival celebrations disintegrated into a life-threatening street assault once patrons boarded the return ferry back to St. Thomas.
According to the Probable Cause Fact Sheet , the root of the violence began at approximately 2:30 a.m. on July 1, 2026, within a heavily congested, chaotic boarding line at the St. John dock. A minor verbal dispute erupted after an individual carrying alcoholic beverages inadvertently caused pushing near the structural barricades.
While the boat ride across the water remained calm, a group of aggressive individuals targeted a woman and two minors in her care the exact moment they stepped off the vessel in St. Thomas.
The Bottleneck Ambuscade at Red Hook Terminal
As the victims navigated their way through a bottlenecked, single-file exit gate at the Urman Victor Fredericks Marine Terminal, they realized they were actively being trailed by an aggressive entourage. One woman continuously lobbed accusations through the crowd, shouting that the group had struck her during the earlier ruckus. Despite continuous attempts by the victims to diffuse the situation and clarify that no one had hit her, the group was relentlessly pursued across the street toward their parked vehicle near the local BIR office.
Port Authority security footage and viral mobile videos later reviewed by criminal detectives painted a horrifying scene of the ambush that followed. The primary victim was violently blindsided, shoved flat onto her back in the terminal roadway, and immediately swarmed by multiple individuals. As she lay defenseless on the asphalt, the primary aggressor and a second heavyset female—formally identified by law enforcement as Kahiyla Charles—repeatedly and brutally stomped on the woman’s face and body.
Stomped Unconscious and Hospitalized with Fractures
When one of the minor companions courageously tried to intervene and shield the unresponsive woman, a male accomplice identified as Ke’Andre Charles violently threw the minor to the asphalt and yanked at her hair.
The primary victim ultimately awoke on the fourth floor of the Schneider Regional Medical Center’s Surgical Unit vomiting blood, suffering from severe head and facial trauma, a bloodshot right eye, and extensive facial fractures that left her left eye completely swollen shut.
A High-Airlines Flight Intercepted by Law Enforcement
Recognizing the extreme severity of the assault and receiving active intelligence from Captain Dominguez that Charles was preparing to flee the territory entirely, authorities launched an immediate dragnet. A “Be On the Look Out” (BOLO) alert was issued to processing details, and rapid computer system checks confirmed that Charles had already secured a commercial airline ticket to depart the island for Houston, Texas, on July 4th.
With her escape window rapidly closing due to the active wanted poster, Charles’ defense attorney contacted detectives to arrange a formal surrender. Accompanied by legal counsel, Charles marched into the Richard N. Callwood Command, invoking her right to remain silent. She was processed by forensics, hit with a $25,000 bail, and remanded to the Bureau of Corrections on formal charges of Third-Degree Assault, Simple Assault, and Disturbance of the Peace.
