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Oct. 30, 2007 –" ...53-year-old [Carlos Aguilar] has been rendered a memory and a legend after two bullets tore through his midsection Oct. 16. ..Aguilar hung on for 10 days and through multiple operations until he was pronounced dead the afternoon of Oct. 25 at Roy Lester Schneider Hospital...".
"...A highly skilled architect with the firm Springline Architects..."
"...Aguilar frequently teamed up with his wife, Verian, herself an accomplished sailor, to chaperone sailings trips to a variety of locales. A 20-year veteran of Antilles School, Verian Aguilar taught early-childhood classes for years and now serves as a counselor to students and parents."
"...Aguilar was shot before the horrified eyes of locals as well as tourists, whose vehicles were in the front line of an accident that erupted into gunfire. His East End home had just been burglarized, and Aguilar tailed a suspicious car to Sapphire Beach, where he was shot mid afternoon after the two vehicles collided.
"Akeel T. Codrington, 19, was arrested Oct. 22 and charged with possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment and driving without a license in connection with the incident. At a hearing the following day, V.I. Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Hollar upheld the charges against Codrington, who POSTED 10 PERCENT OF HIS $21,000 BAIL AND WAS RELEASED into the custody of his mother, Deborah Matthew.
"Some TOURISTS WHO WITNESSED THE SHOOTING reached out to Canfield, whose name appeared in published reports. They asked him to relay their condolences to Aguilar's family and said they stand ready to assist in the investigation, Canfield said. The tourists told him they have been contacted by both the V.I. Police Department and federal authorities."
"To date, POLICE HAVE FILED NO MURDER CHARGES and decline to comment because the case remains under investigation. Codrington, who must report daily to a probation officer and has been directed to seek "gainful employment," according to court documents, is slated for arraignment at 9 a.m. Nov. 8."
(CAPITALIZATION mine)
The full story can be found here: http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=1201843603
Posted : October 31, 2007 1:25 pm
Welcome to Paradise
Posted : October 31, 2007 1:28 pm
sounds like just the kind of guy an employer would be lucky to find..... NOT!
Posted : October 31, 2007 2:01 pm
This would be the crime that only affects locals and you can avoid by staying out of the seedy areas?????????????????????????
Posted : October 31, 2007 2:06 pm
What is going on! If a solid citizen is dead and an unemployed criminal is responsible how does he get bail? How are there no Murder charges? I am pretty sure Aguilar didnt shoot himself!
Posted : October 31, 2007 3:51 pm
Oh my God.
Posted : October 31, 2007 8:19 pm
He WAS a local, Jane. I also knew him. Telling tourists & others to stay out of seedy areas DOES significantly reduce the chances of being robbed/murdered, etc. Glad nobody is ever murdered where you live.
Ridiculous to allow that guy out on such a low bail. This is a really tragic loss.
Posted : October 31, 2007 8:53 pm
The man was not the shooter. He was the driver. He contends that he gave the guy a lift. Question is why did he abandon his car and run home after the shooting started? That part sounds fishy to me. The shooter has not been found as yet, and the driver says he does not know who the guy was. The rest of the story was somewhat omitted above and you are thinking he was the shooter.
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17616352
RL
Posted : October 31, 2007 10:30 pm
I have to do repairs on the boat that is doing the burial on Friday....
Anyone who knows me knowsI would have done the same thing!
If I saw a car with 2 a$$holes with my stuff in it, I would have done the same thing!
TRAGIC!
I hope they get the guy & nail him!
What is even more tragic(I hope I`m not right), is the guy gets off(well connected family), say it`s not so!
I don`t know Carlos, but have friends who do, why is it the good, the people who provide for the rest of us leave us in such a way, that makes us wish for justice?
I hope justice is served!
Dun
Posted : November 1, 2007 1:20 am
Topic starter
The article in the St. Thomas Source did not say that the man released on bail was the shooter but the article did call him a "thug" and he was charged as one of the thieves who stole from Carlos. In the states, all thugs involved in a robbery that ends in murder are charged with murder, even when only one of the thugs pulled the trigger. Codrington was charged with the robbery and was driving the shooter so he should be charged with the murder. Brenda Hollar is once again favoring the criminals at the expense of the rest of us.
Jane, chasing thugs who violate your person or property is a recipe for disaster anyplace on Earth.
Dun, I concur. Carlos' murder is a profound tragedy for our community as well as for his family and friends.
Posted : November 1, 2007 1:55 am
No thug chasing for me...luckily my first impulse would be to get my binky and hide under the stairs.
I just did a bit of research and Jefferson County, WA where we live now has about 30,000 people and there have been 3 murders since 2000. So, not "nobody" but certainly very few.
Posted : November 1, 2007 3:31 am
Yeah, Ted Bundy lived in Washington.
Posted : November 1, 2007 7:44 am
Jefferson County WA, Crime Stats as reported by the FBI & National Archive of Criminal Justice as of April 2007.
Murder 2
Rape 5
Robbery 4
Aggravated Assault 43
Burglary 76
Larceny and Theft 48
Motor Vehicles Theft 17
Arson 3
Other Assaults 190
Forgery & Counter fitting 5
Fraud 4
Have Stolen Property 20
Vandalism 58
Weapons Violation 57
Sex Offenses 12
Total Drug Violations 163
DUI 209
Disorderly Conduct 12
All Other Offenses except Traffic 415
Posted : November 1, 2007 9:18 am
Lizard,
What's your point? Are you trying to say that crime is higher or lower or the same as the islands? Or something else?
Teresa (confused in Atlanta - no stats attached)
Posted : November 1, 2007 1:34 pm
Teresa,
Follow the thread!
Posted : November 1, 2007 1:48 pm
The thread is easy to follow. It's the logic I'm having trouble with.
Same old, same old., indeed!!!!
Posted : November 1, 2007 2:12 pm
If you go to the page that Lizard is quoting, you will see in Large Bold Letters that these are in fact the statistics for 2002!!!! It also states quite clearly that these stats are no longer maintained. Ooooops.
The correct stats are that we have had 5 homicides since 1996, 1 in 1998, 1 in 2002, 2 in 2002, and 1 in 2003.
Posted : November 1, 2007 2:27 pm
The New Improved Jane,
It said the table was no longer being maintained and was last modified April 20, 2007. The stats didn't change.
On my original post, I did say April 2007. So if the stats are not maintained does that erase crime in Jefferson County WA.?
Posted : November 1, 2007 3:05 pm
Ronnie,
The article that appeared in the Oct. 26th online edition of the V.I. Daily News contained this statement:
"The Ramseys and Stuart all said that from their position three cars behind the site of the collision, they clearly saw that it was the Mitsubishi's driver who fired two shots at Aquilar."
The entire article can be found at: http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17616482
Posted : November 1, 2007 5:48 pm
Richard, my point is that had he been suspected of being the shooter, he would have been charged with murder. If he is connected, then he is an accessory to murder. He should be charged that way, if such is the case. I hate to see these one sided threads that get out of hand with people's opinions. Everyone here wants to try these things in the court of public opinion. I guess I am just too much an island person and would like to wait and see what happens. Something I have lived with for years. If I did not like it, then I guess I will find somewhere else to live.
BTW, Codrington is not an island name from these parts for those who feel so.
RL
PS My condolences.
Posted : November 1, 2007 7:04 pm
the name is from barbados
Posted : November 1, 2007 7:43 pm
Ronnie, if you can be accused of anything it would be for being rational. Usually, the more facts that are known the greater the certainty of arriving at the truth. So your point is well taken.
And thank you for the condolences.
Posted : November 2, 2007 11:59 am
Anything new from the police on this crime? It looks like another cover-up. If witnesses identified the driver as the shooter, why isn't he still in custody? Why can't we get answers?
I get so sick and tired of incompetent and dishonest cops and judges.
Posted : November 2, 2007 6:04 pm
Topic starter
"I guess I am just too much an island person and would like to wait and see what happens. Something I have lived with for years."
Many of us have lived here for years with a wait and see attitude. The criminals, police, attorneys and judges know this attitude is prevalent among us and hope we'll continue to ignore crimes so that they won't be forced to capture, try, convict and imprison their neighbors, friends and relatives. Our wait and see attitude fosters crime because criminals know crime solving isn't a priority and our abysmal solved crime rate proves they're right. We can't afford to cling to our old wait and see attitude; the cost in human misery and lives is simply too great. If we can't police ourselves properly we need to import law enforcement personnel, both police and judges, to restore order.
"If I did not like it, then I guess I will find somewhere else to live."
It is hard for me to believe anyone, even you Ronnie, actually "likes" our high crime rate and poor solve rate. And surely you know that not everyone here has your and my ability to abandon home, family, friends and livelihood and move elsewhere. If everyone who can leave does leave, then the thugs win, so it seems imperative that we fight back and insist that our island be a safe place to live and visit.
We have an extremely serious problem and waiting and seeing won't solve it.
Posted : November 2, 2007 7:17 pm
If the neighbors and good people had owned guns this crime would have been much less likely. If we remain satisfied with a "wait and see" attitude and fail, at some point, to clean up the mess here, we are likely to end up like Haiti. Evil prevails when good men do nothing.
Posted : November 2, 2007 8:51 pm
