Three defendants charged in connection with the Dec. 4, 2021 armed robbery of a St. Thomas jewelry store are expected to face trial by the end of August. A fourth defendant in the case pleaded guilty to lesser charges in June and now awaits sentencing.
Defendants Damian Lewis, Junior Marcelo Garcia, and Akenda Weeks appeared for their final pre-trial conferences Monday before Superior Court Judge Carol Thomas-Jacobs. The judge ordered jury selection to take place on Aug. 26.
Lewis, Garcia, and Weeks are accused of acting as a team to rob Glitters Jewelry Store of merchandise at gunpoint. A customer and a security guard were shot in the incident.
Fifty-six-year-old Gregorianna Julien, a customer at the store who was airlifted to the U.S. mainland for treatment of gunshot wounds, later died on New Year’s Day, 2022.
Jurors selected to hear the trial will be asked to decide the guilt or innocence of three defendants on charges of murder, assault, kidnapping, grand larceny, illegal weapons possession, reckless endangerment, mayhem, conspiracy, and auto theft.
The fourth defendant, Michiah Cozier, signed a plea agreement on June 17 admitting guilt to charges of robbery, use of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and two other related charges. He is expected to appear for sentencing on Sept. 19 and faces between 25-35 years in prison.
