Nyall George, 26, of Old Plantation, was remanded to prison last Thursday after he was charged with conspiracy to murder in connection with the Dec. 12 shooting death of Kadeem Jimenez in the parking lot of Harbour View Marina in East End.

Mr. George is accused of renting a vehicle used to follow Mr. Jimenez leading up to the shooting — and returning it about an hour later, according to the Crown. He appeared virtually in Magistrates’ Court last Thursday alongside John Burgos, 24, of St. Croix.

Mr. Burgos was not charged in connection with the murder, but he and Mr. George were jointly charged with unlawful possession of firearms and drugs in connection with items allegedly found in a search of Mr. George’s residence in Hodges Creek.

Messrs. George and Burgos — who were represented by attorneys Valerie Stephens-Gordon and Michael Maduro, respectively — did not plead, and they were remanded to prison by Senior Magistrate Tamia Richards.

The allegations Crown Counsel Lyn Dailey, who read the allegations to the court, said that police obtained CCTV footage that shows a vehicle that Mr. George rented on Dec. 11 following Mr. Jimenez’s vehicle for part of the day on Dec. 12.

Around 3 p.m. that day, Mr. Jimenez parked near Harbour View Marina in East End and entered the restaurant there, the prosecutor said.The vehicle Mr. George had rented parked nearby, she added.

The shooting

As Mr. Jimenez left the restaurant, two people exited the rental vehicle — one of them carrying a long-arm rifle that was visible on CCTV footage later obtained by police — and Mr. Jimenez was shot several times, according to the prosecutor. He was later pronounced dead at the scene, she said.

Meanwhile, the alleged attackers made their escape in the direction of Road Town, according to the Crown. About an hour after the shooting, Mr. George returned the rental vehicle, the prosecutor said.

CCTV footage captured earlier that day, she added, showed that the rental had been temporarily outfitted with private plates from an abandoned vehicle.

Police operation

Mr. George was arrested on Dec. 20, and his phone was subsequently seized and analysed, Ms. Dailey said.

Later, investigators obtained a warrant to search his Hodges Creek residence, according to the prosecutor. During a Feb. 21 search, she said, police seized three handguns, 237 rounds of ammunition, 84 grammes of suspected marijuana, and 3.292 kilograms of suspected cocaine. The suspected cocaine has a street value of about $329,000, the suspected marijuana of about $840, she said.

Both men were arrested and taken to the Road Town Police Station, according to the prosecutor. There, they were invited for separate interviews with police investigators, but they chose not to comment during the proceedings, she said.

USVI checks

Following the arrest of Mr. Burgos, investigators also communicated with their counterparts in the United States VI, who confirmed that there was an existing warrant for his arrest, Ms. Dailey said. She also told the court that checks with the Immigration Department here found no record of Mr. Burgos entering this territory legally.

Request for time Ms. Dailey asked the court for additional time to analyse the ammunition and the suspected drugs. CCTV footage obtained by the police during the investigation is also being analysed, she said, requesting time to store it on compact disc or another medium.

The men’s attorneys told the court that their clients would enter pleas after receiving statements from the prosecution. Ms. Richards subsequently remanded the men to prison at least until March 30.