Stab wound to neck – Man charged for murder of Jamaican wife

Police in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have charged a native of St Vincent and the Grenadines with the knife slaying of his Jamaican wife Sherika Nelson last evening at their matrimonial home in Greenland, BVI.

Lennox Franklyn Da Silva, 52, will appear in the Magistrate’s Court tomorrow to answer the charge of murder.

That homicide last evening is the sixth reported since the start of the year in the BVI, which has a population of 30,000 people.

Police said the current murder rate is the highest locally in any given year since 2008 when nine murders were reported for the full year.

Law enforcers were called to the couple’s Greenland apartment after neighbours heard screams and saw a child trying to beat a hasty retreat from the home where the Jamaican woman was stabbed.

She has an apparent stab wound to the neck.

The husband was apprehended at the murder scene.

The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) said: “Yesterday evening, police were called to the scene of a domestic violence incident. Officers found a woman unresponsive in her apartment with an apparent stab wound to the neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Da Silva was subsequently taken into custody.”

“Detectives are grateful for the information already provided by members of the community in relation to this case, and would be appreciative for any additional information as they continue to collect evidence in this case,” added the RVIPF.

“Persons with an eyewitness report or with information are asked to contact the Major Crime Team directly by calling 368-5682 or the Intelligence Unit at 368-9339.”

The RVIPF further stated that the Coroner’s Office has been notified about the murder.

Tragedy, in the meantime, has been lurking around the couple’s relationship for some time.

In April 2014, Da Silva was shot and wounded when he visited Jamaica reportedly to marry Sherika.

Jamaican police, at the time, said the incident was a robbery that unfolded at a house in Old Pasley, Palmers Cross, Clarendon, Jamaica.

The woman’s relatives reside in that community.

Da Silva survived the gun attack and returned to the BVI. Sherika later relocated to live with him here.

When Da Silva returned to the BVI, he told BVI News Online that he was grateful to be alive.

“God is who saved me. [It] is he who I could talk to and prevail. I make sure I present myself in church here which I supposed to be – to give God thanks for sparing my life,” he said in late April 2014.

Da Silva worked at Bobby’s Marketplace for years before he switched to RiteWay Supermarket – both in the BVI.

Woman stabbed to death – 6 murders in 6 months