KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – Police say their investigations into the triple murder in Belmont east of here last Friday are continuing despite a 25-year-old man appearing before a city magistrate on Monday charged with the killings as well as three counts of attempted murder.
“This is not the end of the investigation. It has just commenced, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines can rest assured that the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force will leave no stone unturned in finding the other killers that are involved,” acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, Trevor “Buju” Bailey told a news conference.
“And I want to underscore that we’re going to find you and bring you to justice,” said Bailey, who is responsible for crime fighting and is leading the investigation into the triple homicide.
On Monday, Kesroy Ryan, 25, appeared before the Serious Offences Court on charges that on May 16, at Belmont, he murdered Leslie Davis, Demeon Cumberbatch, and Joel Browne and attempted to murder Bancroft Abbott, Lorna Davis, and Hayden Ballantyne.
He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded in custody until June 2.
Bailey told reporters that surveillance footage of the shooting was circulating on social media.
The video shows Cumberbatch and Browne, who were inside the customers’ section of the shop, being shot even before the shooters entered the business place. One of the men collapsed to the ground while the other slumped as he held the right side of his chest.
At about the same time, Davis appeared to jump or fall off the seat she was sitting on behind the counter as an individual wearing a clown mask with a red nose and a long-sleeved hoodie entered the shop and continued to fire at her.
Shortly after, the shooter appears to be fiddling with the firearm, suggesting that it might have jammed.
As that shooter left the shop, gunfire continued, and almost immediately, a second individual entered the shop through the other door, pointed a gun over the counter, and shot Davis repeatedly.
Both individuals then left the shop as the gunfire continued.
Bailey told the news conference that “our investigation is not limited to just video footage.
“Our investigation is thorough and detailed, and as stated on … Saturday (May 17), dots create lines, lines lead us to places, and we are prepared to walk and get there,” Bailey said.
Acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams, who was overseas when the shooting took place but was present at the news conference, urged the public to continue to cooperate with investigators of the triple homicide and other crimes across the country.
“Gun-related offenses continue to be problematic, not just in St. Vincent but across our region, and we are doing all that we can do collaboratively across our region to tackle this scourge effectively,” Williams said.
“And part of tackling this scourge effectively, we rely on you, Vincentians, like-minded Vincentians, law Vincentians, to work with us to rid our streets of illegal firearms and ammunition.”
The triple killing in Belmont took place three days after businessman Stephen King, aka King-O, 76, of Green Hill, was shot and killed similarly while sitting on his patio around noon, leaving his family and community wondering about the motive for his murder.
As the gunmen moved in on him, neighbors heard King shouting, “What I do you? What do I do to you? Please don’t kill me!”
Police said that masked assailants entered King’s property and shot him multiple times before fleeing.
May has been the bloodiest month in St. Vincent and the Grenadines this year, registering six of the 16 homicides as compared with 2024, when there were no killings in May, and the count at the end of April was 17.
In 2024, the country recorded 54 homicides, just one less than the record set the previous year and 42 in 2022.
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