U.S. Virgin Islands — V.I. Attorney General Designee Gordon C. Rhea announced that 25- year-old Rajah Caul Jr. was sentenced on September 30, 2024, to thirty years in prison for the January 2021 homicide of Michael Anthony Cruz.
V.I. Superior Court Judge Alphonso G. Andrews, Jr. sentenced Caul, whose attorney had requested a prison term of just 10 years. Caul had previously entered a plea to Murder in the Second Degree on July 15, 2024.
On January 12, 2021, 23-year-old Cruz was fatally shot as he arrived for work in Gallows Bay. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses showed Caul and another individual arriving in a stolen red Jeep Grand Cherokee and parking near the Marshall & Sterling Insurance building shortly after Cruz arrived. The two suspects waited for Cruz to walk by and then fired multiple shots at Cruz before fleeing. Cruz succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
AG Designee Rhea expressed his gratitude to all involved in the V.I. Department of Justice St. Croix District of the Criminal Division for their hard work as well as the Virgin Islands Police Department’s Special Operations Unit and detectives from the VIPD Criminal Investigation Bureau.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2024
Sandra Goomansingh
Media Relations Director
(340) 774-5666 ext. 10105
Email: sandra.goomansingh@doj.vi.gov