Michael Abraham of Pine Peace was released on $20,000 unsecured bond by Judge Leon Kendall on a gun possession charge on Friday, November 30, one day after alledgedly fatally shooting another St. John man in the head.
Abraham, 21, turned himself in to the police on Thursday evening, November 29, after he allegedly shot and killed 22-year-old Alston Smith in the Pine Peace area.
Smith died after sustaining a single gunshot wound to the head in what appeared to be a premeditated attack, according to reports from residents in the area.
Police responded to reports of shots fired in the Pine Peace area at 5:57 p.m. Upon arrival, VIPD officers found the victim unresponsive and lying face-down on the roadside, according to a VIPD press release.
“Police say the victim sustained what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to the head,” according to the press release. “The victim was positively identified by his brother.”
About two hours later, at 7:53 p.m., a woman called 911 reporting that her son had just shot someone and she would soon bring him to the Leander Jurgen Command in Cruz Bay, according to the statement from the VIPD.
“Michael Abraham turned himself over to police without incident and was arrested and charged with first degree murder,” according to the statement.
“A firearm, which police believe to be the murder weapon, was turned over the police,” according to the police statement.
At Abraham’s advice of rights hearing in Superior Court Friday morning, Judge Kendall found probable cause to charge him with possession of an unlicensed firearm and released him to the custody of his mother.
Despite a probable cause fact sheet submitted by the VIPD which alleged Abraham had confessed the shooting to his mother and