Lawyer Jomo Thomas has stated that Chester King, a national of St. Lucia who was deported from St. Vincent is now on bail and walking the streets of St. Lucia. St. Vincent police had labeled King as wanted for several heinous murders in St Lucia.
On March 9, the local police announced that King was charged with an immigration violation. During his detention, the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) received credible information about crimes King committed in St. Lucia. Consequently, a warrant for his arrest was issued by the High Court of St. Lucia.
On Monday night, Thomas, during his radio program VOICES, stated that King is not sought after in Saint Lucia for multiple homicides and was not returned by St Lucian authorities, but rather by three coast guard officers from St Vincent.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves commented on the situation during NBC’s “Morning Cup” program on March 5, 2025, emphasizing that the primary objective was to remove a dangerous criminal from St. Vincent.
Thomas continued, “King has not been charged for any murder. King has an outstanding attempted murder charge, which runs all the way back from 2014. He didn’t use an automatic weapon. He didn’t use a self-loading rifle. He didn’t use an AK-47. He didn’t use any of those prohibited or sophisticated weapons. The charge against King for attempted murder is that he stabbed someone. Stab someone? Now, I am not saying that if you stabbed someone and you almost killed them, you should not be charged with attempted murder. You should not be charged for attempted murder. That is not the argument here.”
Thomas articulated the inquiry: “Why were Vincentians subjected to the notion that King was a serious criminal, from whom citizens should feel relieved to see removed from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, when his sole charge in Saint Lucia pertains to an attempted murder that transpired in 2014?”
“What are they hiding? Is it the allegation that King was badly beaten, and they thought he might have succumbed to his injuries? And therefore, they wanted to get him out of here on the pretext that he was wanted in St Lucia. Is it because King’s attorney in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Roderick Jones, barrister and solicitor, wrote to the DPP asking for a fiat so that he can try the persons who badly beat Mr. Chester Key? Is that it?”
“Because why would they concoct this story? Why would they sidestep the court to take this man out of prison like a thief? Placed him on a Saint Vincent Coast Guard boat and took him to Saint Lucia and then concocted the story that he’s a dangerous criminal”, Thomas said.
The police, in their press release, acknowledged that while certain missteps occurred during the process, these were not committed with any intention of disrespect towards the court. Rather, they were a response to the urgent circumstances and the national security implications tied to the presence of the wanted suspect in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
