A judge has denied Justin Matthews’ request for a change of venue in his murder trial, ruling that press coverage of the fatal shooting of Keoner Baron on Sept. 4, 2021, at Home Depot on St. Thomas was not unduly prejudicial.
Matthews is charged with first-degree murder and 10 other counts in the shooting death of his onetime girlfriend Baron, 20, as she waited for a ride outside Home Depot on St. Thomas following her shift at the store. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $200,000 cash bail. He is currently set to stand trial on Sept. 25.
Matthews, 23 at the time of his arrest, filed a motion for a change of venue on July 14, 2022, arguing that information about his case in the media, and on WhatsApp and the internet caused the local community to become “deeply hostile, indignant, and repulsed” by him and that the pretrial publicity was “pervasive, intense, and inflammatory.”
According to the motion, Matthews was “depicted as a cold-hearted vicious murderer, who could not accept rejection by the Victim. The pre-trial publicity in the case of the alleged murder has been pervasive, intense, and inflammatory as to produce a trial atmosphere utterly corrupted by personal opinion, rumors, and innuendos.”
Additionally, pictures of Baron’s body were widely circulated via WhatsApp, to the point that V.I. Police Commissioner Ray Martinez called on the community to stop sharing the images and videos, as reported by the media at the time, the motion states.
However, the government called the motion for a change of venue “ludicrous” and said it would place an undue burden on the prosecution, as well as the 30 to 40 witnesses it plans to call, most of whom live and work on St. Thomas, it said.
Moreover, public attention to the case “is not the fault of media coverage, but instead are just the facts of the case. The fact that this is a heinous crime has nothing to do with the media coverage, but all to do with the defendant’s actions. Whether a juror hears these facts through media coverage or through testimony and evidence at trial, the expected emotional reaction” is because “the evidence and events that occurred are unthinkable,” the government stated in its opposition to the motion.
The fact that photos of the victim were circulated on social media is “only the fault of the defendant who killed Keoner Baron in broad daylight and left her there to die in a very public area. The facts of the case are why a jury will find the defendant guilty, not the media coverage that preceded it,” according to the government’s motion.
“To give a change of venue to every Defendant that has committed a heinous crime that invokes the emotions of the public would be ludicrous,” it states.
Superior Court Judge Denise Francois agreed in her ruling, issued July 21 and posted to the Superior Court docket on July 24.
“The evidence provided were four (4) newspaper articles from almost two (2) years ago, published right after his arrest. The content of these articles was fairly standard, dry journalistic reporting of the crime, arrest, and response. The quantity of the articles was low, just four (4) articles appearing on the same day. The timing of the articles was almost two (2) years ago,” Francois wrote in her order.
“Additionally, the articles mention that the VIPD Commissioner admonished community members to not share footage or images of the incident or victim so as to not aggrieve the victim’s family and friends or spook any potential witnesses,” said Francois, who added that she was not provided videos to properly assess either their content or quantity, “but as with the newspaper articles, the timing of the alleged sharing was almost two (2) years ago.”
Any concerns over potentially biased jurors can be addressed during voir dire, she said, referring to the process by which potential jurors are vetted. “In addition, the Court is not persuaded that the potential jury pool for Matthews’ trial is so polluted, necessitating a change in venue.”
Matthews had also sought to suppress a statement he gave to police following his arrest the day after Baron’s death, allegedly admitting to the crime, but withdrew that motion on Nov. 10.
