It’s been five months since 21-year-old James Cockayne was stabbed to death in Cruz Bay and two months since V.I. Police Department officials made several arrests, but V.I. Justice Department officials have not offered any information to the public or the victim’s family regarding the case.
Cockayne was killed in the early morning hours of June 19 outside of Fashion Palace, just a few blocks from the V.I. Police Department’s Leander Jurgen Command in Cruz Bay.
The Pennsylvania man had been on island for a few months awaiting paperwork to clear so he could begin work as a sailing instructor in Virgin Gorda.
In the weeks following the murder, V.I. Police Department officials remained tight-lipped while Cockayne’s parents appeared on numerous national television shows — from CNN to Fox News — pleading for justice.
VIPD officials got busy in early August, arresting 18-year-old Kamal Thomas on August 3, 31-year-old Ryan Meade on August 6, and 31-year-old Anselmo Boston on August 9.
Thomas Released
Thomas, who grew up on Tortola, faces first degree murder, first degree assault and weapons charges. He was released from the St. Thomas Correctional Facility on August 10 after V.I. Superior Court Judge Leon Kendall denied the prosecution’s motion for detainment.
Kendall set bail at $75,000 and allowed Thomas to post 10 percent of that amount. The Georgia native, who had lived on St. John for about a year at the time of his arrest, was also required to wear an electronic monitoring device and remain under house arrest as conditions of his release.
Boston, who was apprehended at the Cyril King Airport after returning from a trip to Antigua, faces charges of first degree murder, first degree assault and using a deadly weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Boston Under House Arrest
The St. Croix man was released from jail on August 17 after Assistant Attorney General Renee Gumbs-Carty showed up more than 30 minutes late for the detainment hearing she requested. After immediately dismissing the detainment motion, V.I. Superior Court Judge Brenda Hollar set a $100,000 surety bond bail.
Boston, whose parents were expected to post their St. Croix home for bail, was also placed under house arrest and required to wear an electronic monitoring device and turn over his travel documents to the court.
VIPD officials allege that Boston broke a pool stick over Cockayne’s head at the Front Yard bar because Cockayne had kicked Boston’s girlfriend’s car earlier in the day.
Police say Thomas and Boston then left the bar, followed Cockayne up the street and stabbed him to death.
Thomas and Meade were also charged with witness tampering. Kendall set a $25,000 surety bond as bail for Thomas and a $10,000 unsecured bond for Meade’s bail.
Hollar will preside over the joined trial of Thomas and Boston. Thomas’s witness intimidation trial and Meade’s witness tampering trial will be tried separately.
It remains unclear, however, when those trials will take place.
After the bail hearings, V.I. Attorney General Vincent Frazer originally assigned St. Croix-based Deputy Attorney General Charlotte Poole-Davis as the contact for the Cockayne cases.
Poole-Davis did not return repeated telephone calls St. John Tradewinds.
No Word from AGs Office
The deputy attorney general also did not return numerous phone calls from the Cockayne family, according to a source close to parent’s Jeanie and Bill Cockayne.
The murder victim’s parents have since given up on trying to contact Poole-Davis, according to the family source.
Last week, inquiries regarding the Cockayne case were referred to Gumbs-Carty who did not return Tradewinds telephone calls.