The two men who were shot and killed by unknown assailants in Petit Bordel on Thursday have been identified as residents of Lowmans Hill.
Police issued a terse statement on Thursday about the shootings in which they said nothing about the identities of the men.
However, iWitness News has been able to confirm that they are Johnny Holder, 23, and Kelon Baptiste, 38, both of the West Kingstown village.
Police said preliminary reports are that three men sustained multiple gunshot injuries after they were approached by two masked gunmen, who opened fire before fleeing the scene.
“Upon responding to the incident, police discovered that two of the three men had been fatally shot,” the statement said.
Both Holder and Baptiste had made news headlines before their deaths.
In October 2018, Baptiste and Tevin Robinson, then 24, were each jailed for four years for burglarising LA Boutique in Kingstown and stealing items valued at EC$3,186.50.
In January 2022, Holder pleaded not guilty to a charge that he burglarised a shop in Barrouallie and stole EC$8,900 in cash as well as cigarettes, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and corn beef valued at EC$4,598.
In November 2023, Holder, Lemron Mason, 22, Joel Williams, of Ottley Hall, and Delroy Harry, of Lowmans Bay, were charged with robbery, aggravated burglary, assault, abduction, and damage to property in connection with the Nov. 3, 2024 burglary at Campden Park.
Then, in December 2023, Holder was jailed for breaching the night-time curfew imposed as part of his bail in connection with those charges.
He breached the curfew on Dec. 2 and again on Dec. 8.
Senior Magistrate Colin John sentenced him to three months in prison for each of those offences but ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
Holder and Baptiste bring to four the number of people shot and killed in Petit Bordel since Sept. 27 and the national homicide count this year to 41.
On Sept. 27, Stanran Stapleton aka Standpide, 29, was shot and killed, 20 years after his father was killed in the village.
Then, on Sept. 29, Othnell Lavia, aka Curtell, a 37-year-old farmer, died after being shot in Petit Bordel sometime around 2 a.m.
Iran Stapleton, a Petit Bordel man living in Redemption Sharpes, has been charged with murder in connection with Lavia’s death.
SVG recorded a record 55 homicides in 2023, which replaced the record of 42, set in 2022.
Curtell Lavia and “Standpipe” were.killed in the community. However, the recent killings took place in the mountainous area close to Chateaubelair, Petit Bordel and Rose Hall.
It seems that with Petit Bordel as the location sounds great for.the headlines.