Murders, death of BVI elders weighing heavily on us
Opposition legislator Ronnie Skelton has expressed concern about the emotional toll recent murders and the deaths of several senior members of the BVI community are having on residents.
Speaking recently in the House of Assembly, Skelton reflected on the killing of businessman Kai de Castro, describing the violent loss of a young person as particularly troubling for the territory.
“To lose a son in this way, in this violent [manner] is not saying a lot of good things about us as a people,” Skelton said. “How are these things happening?”
He noted that de Castro’s killing was not an isolated incident, pointing to the recent murder of K’Moi Walters in the Huntums Ghut area. Skelton said the impact of the violence is being compounded by the passing of several older residents who have long been part of the fabric of the Virgin Islands community.
“Along with this, we have a lot of our people who are passing. We talk about Doris Connor, who I’ve known most of my life, really. I know that whole family,” he stated. “These things are beginning to affect us.”
The legislator suggested the murders and natural losses were particularly sobering as the territory recently celebrated Emancipation, a period traditionally used to reflect on the struggles and sacrifices of the ancestors who fought for freedom.
“Here we are celebrating the emancipation of our forefathers, and it seems like our children and whatever strangers among us don’t understand where we came from, and the struggles we had to be here,” Skelton said. “Some of these things are really, really hurtful.”
Skelton extended condolences to the de Castro family as well as other families across the territory who have recently lost loved ones. He also acknowledged the close family connection between de Castro and Education Minister Sharie de Castro, noting that Kai was her first cousin.
“I don’t know what state she’s gonna be in,” Skelton said as he offered support to the grieving family.
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Meson these people smh ALL OF THEM KNOW WHAT KAI INTO. tALKING GARBAGE LIKE THIS WAS SOME INNOCENT DUDE HE DIDN’T WANT FOR NOTHING BUT WANT TO BE IN TINGS. Point is REAL bad man saw this soft as cupcake fool and it was CHRISTMAS!
I have said before that while the loss of Mr. de Castro is tragic and deserves condemnation, it should remind us that every victim of violence leaves behind grieving loved ones, unanswered questions, and a community seeking justice.
As we rightly mourn Mr. de Castro, we should also remember K’Moi Walters and the many others taken from us through violence. But where has the same sustained outrage been for the dozens of victims whose cases remain unsolved?
More than 69 murders were recorded between 2001 and 2021, with roughly half remaining unsolved, and that figure has only increased by 2026. Where is the continued public outcry for Melissa Spence, Kendoy Penn, Julio Pineda Ceasor, Nyron Ollivierre, Cardinal Fahie, Jefferson Joseph, Trinity Moses, Franklyn Penn Jr., Deverson Williams, Earl Hodge, and the many others whose names may have faded from the headlines but not from the hearts of their families?
If these murders are not saying a lot of good things about us as a people, then that concern must extend beyond the cases that capture headlines or involve well-known families. A life does not become more valuable because the victim is prominent or well connected.
The true measure of our commitment to ending violence is not how loudly we grieve one victim, but whether we demand justice for all victims with the same urgency and determination. Every victim mattered. Every family matters. Every unsolved murder is a failure of justice, and until every family gets answers, the work remains unfinished.
Just as long as you don’t have to go through security checks at the airport you will pull through these difficult times.
All you innocent victims!!
You still wanting the smuggling glory days for selves.
VI culture is Twerking, Sexing and Shaming and Corrupting itself lead by our elders and politicians and the so called “Christian” Council.
Our VI innocents got here all by themselves.
Not one can give up the names of the gun toting murderers. Not even one VIslander coward to speak out and reveal the killer of Trinity Moses the 11 year old child, killed by the hands of gun toting scooter hoodlums. Everyone in VI hiding behind tinted windows.
“Struggles to be here”!! like some sort of heros???
The ancestors had the struggles and the pain.
VI needs to take an honest look at itself.
And the blood sacrifices will be rampant and people need to stop pretending they don’t know what time it is especially when the buck stops with them.
ITS CALLED * HYPOCRISY * WHAT YOU WROTE IS FACTION NOT FICTION AND YOUR MESSAGE IS CLEAR . MR “ALOOF” -KEĹLIE PLAYING HE JUST WOKE UP / THE LADY WHO SAID SHE’S WONDERING WHERE ALL THIS KILLINGS COME FROM- SAME THING / THE WANNABE HOLY BISHUP FROM CGB , HE ALSO WOKE UP AND WAS HOLLERING OUT IN PAIN ~ WHEN THE ” POPULAR ” BUSINESS MAN FROM THE WEST GOT A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE – THESE ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS OF ALL THE COLDBLOODED EXECUTION STYLE KILLINGS THAT IS BEING NURTURED OR ADAPTED AS OUR NEW CULTURE , AND THEY USING THE “WHITE COLONIALIST SLAVE MASTERS ATTROCITIES FROM CENTURIES AGO AS A FRONT TO HIDE BEHIND THEIR GUILT WHILE THEY EXPLOIT THEIR OWN PEOPLE FOR POWER & WEALTH ( A LOT OF THESE SO CALLED ” POPULAR ” BUSINESS MEN GOT INNOCENT BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS / KARMA WILL.BE KNOCKING ON THEIR DOORS SOON ( AND WHEN SOME GETB SICK AND START CONFESSING THEY HIDE THEM AND GET SOME STRANGER TO TAKE CARE OF THEM THINKING THEIR HIDDEN SECRETS WON’T COME OUT , BUT PEOPLE ” TARK ” AND SOON ITS ON THE STREETS ) SO THEY CAN TRY , BUT WHATS IN DARKNESS WILL COME TO LIGHT