KINGSHILL — Virgin Islands Attorney General designee Gordon C. Rhea announced that 25-
year-old Rajah Caul Jr. was sentenced on September 30, 2024, to thirty years in prison for the
January 2021 homicide of Michael Anthony Cruz.
Virgin Islands Superior Court Judge Alphonso G. Andrews, Jr. sentenced Caul, whose attorney had
requested a prison term of just 10 years. Caul had previously entered a plea of second-degree murder on July 15, 2024.
On January 12, 2021, 23-year-old Cruz was fatally shot as he arrived for work in Gallows Bay.
Surveillance footage from nearby businesses showed Caul and another individual arriving
in a stolen red Jeep Grand Cherokee and parking near the Marshall & Sterling Insurance
building shortly after Cruz arrived.
VIPD mug shot of Rajah Caul Jr. of St. Croix.
The two suspects waited for Cruz to walk by and then fired multiple shots at Cruz before fleeing. Cruz succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
AG Designee Rhea expressed his gratitude to all involved in the V.I. Department of Justice
St. Croix District of the Criminal Division for their hard work as well as the Virgin Islands
Police Department’s Special Operations Unit and detectives from the VIPD Criminal
Investigation Bureau.