Caribbean news. Crime is a terrible thing when it strikes close to home, and this week it reared its ugly, despicable head and struck too close to home for St. Lucians in New York. Wednesday April 30th. 2014, just a few days ago, caused many St. Lucians in New York City to bow their heads in shame. I, too, was one of those saddened, dismayed, and ashamed by the purported actions by one of our very own.
Not that crime does not exist in our midst but the fact that such a heinous and callous act was committed by one of us was just too much for some. A people known for being friendly and compassionate, it was indeed a tough pill to swallow that such a young member of our community was arrested for kidnapping and murder resulting in a charge of second-degree murder.
Kendal Felix and Menachem Stark. Photo courtesy Norbert Williams
With temperatures below freezing most of that day and the forecast of a snowstorm looming over the city, the trio must have been determined in executing their plot to get Stark.I mean seriously, who wants to be out in this weather other than someone determined with a will cast in stone to exact whatever dastardly deed had already been planned. According to reports corroborated by video footage outside Stark’s office, he was snatched and driven away.
Surveillance video captures the vehicle driving through the snow eventually heading to Long Island. As relatives prayed for a miracle, Stark’s burning body was found just before 4 p.m. Friday, January 2nd. in a dumpster at a Getty gas station in Great Neck, Long Island — 16 miles from where he was abducted. Stark was burned from the waist down, a source said.A few employees shoveling snow near the gas pumps threw snow into the dumpster. Fernando Cerff, the owner of the gas station, arrived at the Cutter Mill Road business early Friday to shovel snow and get his fleet of plows on the road. “There was smoke coming from the dumpster,” Cerff told the Daily News.
“I thought someone threw a cigarette in there. There was a smell,” he said. “It was horrible. I got a really bad feeling about it. I knew something was wrong by the smell. It was just too strong. So I called the cops.” Investigators discovered Stark’s body beside the trash and under a few inches of snow. The gas station was closed immediately.
Kidnap vehicle captured on video driving off. Photo courtesy Norbert Williams
Helloooooooooo…..shouldn’t Felix have been the one to realize that his actions would have had a negative impact on St. Lucia? Do you all not think that the relevant authorities already know his status and nationality? I may be ashamed of his actions but I am still a proud St. Lucian. Identifying him as a St. Lucian makes absolutely no difference to the price of coffee; he’s still in the calaboose!
Dumpster where body was found. Photo courtesy Norbert Williams
Under New York criminal law, murder in the second degree is one of several forms of homicide, or conduct which causes the death of a person. Pursuant to the statute, a person commits second-degree murder in one of five ways:
(1) with the intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of such person or a third person;
(2) under circumstances demonstrating a “depraved indifference to human life,” the defendant “recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causes the death of another person”;
(3) acting alone or in concert with others, the defendant commits or attempts to commit a specified felony (including robbery, burglary, kidnapping, arson, rape, and sexual abuse) and, in the course of and in furtherance of such crime or of immediate flight therefrom, he or she causes the death of a non-participant;
(4) under circumstances demonstrating a “depraved indifference to human life,” a defendant 18 years old or more “recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of serious physical injury or death” to a person less than 11 years old and causes the death of such person; or
(5) while in the course of committing a specified crime such as rape, a criminal sexual act or sexual abuse, a defendant 18 years old or more intentionally causes the death of a person less than 14 years old.
These are the points to prove in a court of law.
Meanwhile the Jewish community remains resolute to see the guilty parties face the maximum penalty for this crime.
In the prime of your life at 26 years old this doesn’t seem like such a bright idea now I guess. The whole world was your oyster. And instead of using this as an example for us all we’re eating-each-other over whether he should be identified as a St. Lucian.
I don’t know you my St. Lucian brother but God be with you as you face a hard road ahead. I would not want to be in your shoes.
Let this be a lesson to us all. Think before you act and regret those actions for the rest of your life. I would prefer to lose a few dollars than to be in jail for the rest of my life. Regardless of the sum owed your life would have still moved on.
Live and learn Lucians. Live and learn! Article By Norbert Williams
