CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A teenaged male was fatally shot inside Gottlieb’s Quickway Service Station in Contant on Friday night, authorities said.
Leroy “Big Steelo” Cornelius, Jr. 16, was positively identified by next of kin as the shooting victim, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
Responding officers arrived on the crime scene and observed a black, unresponsive male lying inside the convenience store, according to the VIPD.
“Emergency Medical Technicians also arrived on the scene and checked the male for vital signs, and at 9:50 p.m. concluded that the male did not have any signs of life,” VIPD Communications Director Glen Dratte said. “Investigation revealed that the male was shot at least once to the upper body.”
Police and emergency medical technicians responding to a 911 call pronounced Cornelius, a rising rap entertainer who goes by the stage name “Big Steelo,” dead at 9:50 p.m. Friday night, according to Dratte.
Corneilus’ death marks the 10th homicide of the year in St. Thomas and brings the territory’s total to 19 since the start of 2023.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to please contact 911 or the Virgin Islands Police Department at 340-774-2211 or the Criminal Investigation Unit’s Major Crimes Division at 340-642-8449. You can also contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.