Belmont Triple Homicide: Two business owners killed in one week
In a troubling development, two business owners, Leslyn Davis and Stephen King, have lost their lives within a single week, as the Eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent grapples with an ongoing crisis of gun violence.
Leslyn Davis, an agricultural exporter from Belmont, was tragically shot and killed in her business establishment on the evening of Friday, 16 May.
Businessman Stephen King was shot in his residence on Tuesday, 13 May.
According to police, on Friday night, masked gunmen entered Davis’s business and fired indiscriminately, killing Davis and two customers, Dameon Cumberbatch and Joel Browne. A 7-year-old child and another man were also wounded. The man has since been discharged from hospital.
Police on Saturday said robbery does not appear to be the motive in the Belmont killings. However, ACP Trevor Bailey stated that preliminary information indicates similarities between the Belmont and Green Hill cases. He stated that they have received information, but they are not yet able to share the exact line of inquiry with the public.
“We have received some sixty phone calls about Friday night’s killing. We are seeing things that are of interest to us, and we will pursue them to the very end. We are seeing some dots, and those dots, when connected, will create a line. A line drawn on the map will take us to several places, and we are prepared to go there.”
Bailey further said, “ This offence should not go undetected. I call upon Vincentians to cooperate; let’s investigate this matter in a partnership. Every victim deserved justice, and the justice should be swift and uncompromising.”
On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, businessman Stephen King, a resident of Green Hill, was killed at approximately 12:00 p.m. when masked gunmen entered his premises and opened fire, shooting him multiple times about the body.
The assailants fled the scene shortly after the incident, a police report stated. No one is yet in custody for King’s murder, which is under investigation.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar on Saturday said Leslyn Davis was one of St Vincent’s main food exporters.
“She assisted with feeding our region through her weekly trade of agricultural produce to Trinidad and Tobago. Her contribution to the marketing of agricultural produce from St Vincent and the Grenadines was exemplary and will be deeply missed.”
Friday night’s killing takes the murder toll in St Vincent to 15.
