Hubert Lee Sr. walked into a Christiansted police station early Friday with a terrifying tale: He was driving to work when a coworker stepped into the street and leveled a handgun. The coworker fired and a bullet went through Lee’s windshield. Lee drove away, turned around, and headed back as the coworker continued to shoot, police said Saturday.
What Lee neglected to mention, police alleged, was that he had run over and killed the coworker, identified as 54-year-old Ersdale I. Joseph.
Police said the incident happened near the newly-renovated Grapetree Bay Hotel and Villas on St. Croix’s southeastern shore.
Another coworker called 911 at 7:40 a.m., saying he’d witnessed the run down and saw the driver of a white taxi van with green and yellow stripes drive off. Emergency responders found Joseph dead upon arrival, police said.
Lee, 64, denied hitting anyone with his vehicle and restated that he was fired upon while on his way to work, police said. A Virgin Island Police Department investigation concluded the killing was a “willful act and not an accident and Hubert Lee Sr murdered the victim using his vehicle as the weapon,” police said.
A person who knew Joseph but asked not to be identified said they were shaken by the killing and called into question Lee’s account. Joseph was a gentle and positive man who loved caring for plants. They said it would have been out of character for Joseph to commit any act of violence, much less shooting a gun at someone. In 2004, Joseph secured a lease to grow food crops on four acres of government land.
Lee was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, with bail set at $1 million. Unable to secure the money, Lee was booked, processed, and transported to the John Bell Correctional Facility pending his advised of rights hearing on Monday.
According to the Source Homicide List, the total number of homicides on St. Coix now stands at five, bringing the territory to 12 homicides for 2023.
