Three arrested in St. Thomas: murder suspect, bad-check ex-official, insurance fraudster

Police on St. Thomas executed three arrest warrants over the weekend, netting a murder suspect in a June shooting, a former tax officer, and a Virginia firefighter wanted for insurance fraud.

Three warrants served on St. Thomas: a killing, bad checks, and insurance fraud

St. Thomas police arrested a second man linked to the June 16 shooting death of 23-year-old Asani Henry, stthomassource.com reported Monday, citing court records. Over the same weekend, officers also took into custody a former government enforcement official on bad-check allegations and a Virginia firefighter wanted for insurance fraud.

Murder suspect Kaden Durand apprehended

A warrant for Kaden Durand, 23, a St. Croix resident, was issued September 30. Police arrested him Friday. Witnesses told investigators that Durand pressed a handgun into Henry's side and fired multiple times during an altercation in the Hospital Ground neighborhood of St. Thomas. Officers arrived to find Henry dead and seven spent casings on the ground.

Surveillance footage showed Durand and Jah'Sheem Graham, also 23, walking together shortly before the killing. On video, Graham approached Henry's Acura; Henry handed Graham an object, then Durand reached into the vehicle. Graham grabbed something from inside the car and fled. Durand then pulled Henry through the window, and a fight continued outside the camera's view, according to court records.

A witness told police Henry briefly managed to disable Durand's firearm during the struggle before Durand shot him and walked away.

St. Thomas officers shared their suspicions with St. Croix police, who confirmed Durand as the man seen in the footage. Durand has been arrested at least four times on St. Croix since 2022, pleading guilty to possession of ammunition and robbery to avoid additional charges. In May he entered a further guilty plea to ammunition possession in a case tied to the July 2024 killing of Michael Edwards Jr.

Graham was intercepted by Customs and Border Protection agents as he tried to leave the territory and was arrested on unrelated charges. He subsequently waived his right to silence and told police he had arranged to meet Henry to sell him a gold chain. When Henry handed over money, Graham said, an unknown man pressed a gun to his back; Graham said he dropped the money and ran, then heard shots. Phone records, however, showed Graham and Durand had been in frequent contact both before and immediately after Henry's death.

Durand now faces charges of murder, assault, robbery, use of a firearm during a violent crime, unlicensed firearm possession within 1,000 feet of public housing, ammunition possession, and conspiracy, among other counts. Graham, arrested in Florida on September 29, faces aiding and abetting the same offenses.

Former tax officer charged with passing bad checks

Police issued a wanted poster Saturday for Calford Charleswell, 60, formerly the chief enforcement officer with the Lieutenant Governor's Office. Charleswell was arrested in 2015 for allegedly helping to rig a government real estate auction and was convicted in 2017 of conspiracy in a scheme to manipulate the public sale of an Estate Frydenhoj property. At the time, his duties included collecting property taxes in the St. Thomas–St. John district, arranging payment plans, processing property tax liens, and conducting public property auctions.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, with all but one suspended. Before sentencing he told the court, "I made a mistake." The fraud, uncovered by the Virgin Islands Inspector General's Office, prompted new safeguards over public auction procedures.

Court records available at the time of reporting were incomplete regarding the specific bad-check allegations now leveled against him.

Virginia firefighter caught at airport

Port Authority officers arrested Xavier Michael McCants, 29, a firefighter from Glen Allen, Virginia, shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday at Cyril E. King Airport as he prepared to board a United Airlines flight to Washington Dulles. McCants is accused of using identity theft in January in an attempt to defraud Progressive Insurance of more than $1,000. He was indicted in August.

In an unusual development, an assistant attorney for the Commonwealth of Virginia wrote to the Virgin Islands Superior Court on Monday requesting that McCants be released and permitted to return to Virginia voluntarily.

Nightclub manager charged with assault

Beyond the warrant cases, police on St. Thomas also arrested a Back Street nightclub manager, William Thelusma, who allegedly refused to comply with noise-control rules and physically resisted an officer attempting to shut down music after 5 a.m. His permit authorized the venue to remain open only until 4 a.m., according to court records. Thelusma was charged with assault and interfering with a police officer.

Source: Google News VI — Crime