A 12-person jury found a St. Croix man guilty Saturday of the 2008 slaying of a young jockey on St. Croix. Colly Cascen, 31, stands convicted of a host of charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and possession of an unlicensed firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.
The charges are in connection with a September 2008 shooting in the vicinity of the Harvey Housing Community in Estate Bethlehem on St. Croix. The shooting killed 16-year-old jockey Christian Soto III, son of well-known St. Croix jockey, Christian Soto Jr.
Two others, Cyril “Din Din” Peter and a minor male, were also wounded in the attack.
Soto had won his first race at the Randall “Doc” James Racetrack on the day he was shot. Soto and a group of several others were celebrating his victory shortly before 11 p.m. near a bus shanty in the housing community where the shooting occurred.
Prosecutors persuaded the jury that Cascen, who had a long-standing feud with Peter, drove up to the group in a black vehicle minutes after Peters joined the celebration. Cascen then exited the vehicle and began firing several shots. Cascen continued to fire shots while chasing Peter, the intended target, towards the horse stable area. Peter was struck in the chest, elbow, thigh and shoulder. A minor male victim was struck in the left side of the back. Soto was struck in the head. All three victims were transported to Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital for treatment.
Soto was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head three days later.
“This type of retaliatory gun violence must stop," said Attorney General Vincent Frazer in the Justice Department’s announcement of the verdict Monday. Frazer thanked witnesses for coming forward and praised police and prosecutors for their hard work.
Cascen faces a mandatory life sentence.