The details of what many thought was a throwdown between two of Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg’s mistresses came to light Wednesday as 19-year-old Keturah Ernest appeared in Magistrate Court to be advised on charges of disturbing the peace and assault.
Ernest’s testimony is at the heart of the case against Donastorg, who is alleged to have assaulted her with a gun, then strangled her after she showed up at his house one evening unannounced. Prosecutors said during the first day of trial that Donastorg, who has admitted to having a sexual relationship with Ernest, asked Ernest to leave because he was supposedly entertaining another mistress at his home when she showed up.
The other woman is also a witness in the case against Donastorg, which has been ongoing this week in V.I. Superior Court. Witnesses to the incident said that Ernest, on her way out of the Farrelly Justice Complex Tuesday evening, attacked a woman she assumed to be the other girlfriend by throwing what appeared in court documents to be a sharp metal hair clip.
The victim — according to a group of witnesses that included officers, bystanders and local attorneys — turned out to be the second girlfriend’s sister, and Ernest was subsequently arrested, processed and eventually released on $1,000 bail.
In her affidavit to the court, V.I. Police Officer Joycelyn Lee-Bob said a fight ensued after the hair clip was thrown, and she ended up having to separate the women. Ernest then threw one of her shoes after the other woman and later attempted to throw the other one, Lee-Bob wrote.
Magistrate Court Judge Kathleen MacKay upheld the charges against Ernest Wednesday, advised her of her rights and kept bail at $1,000.