The body of 23-year-old Isiah Joseph Philbert was found early Monday morning on the floor of his home in Estate Upper Love, the apparent victim of a gunshot, according to a news release from the V.I. Police Department.
Criminal Investigation Bureau detectives are investigating the death as a homicide.
According to the release, police were alerted to the incident by 911 dispatchers at about 3:20 a.m. and responded to a private residence in Estate Upper Love, where they found the victim on the floor with at least one gunshot wound to his body.

The victim’s mother and another person told police they were in another room in the home at the time of the shooting. They told police they heard several gunshots but did not see who did the shooting.

Police are urging anyone with information on this or any other homicide in the Virgin Islands to call the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 712-6077 or 712-6037, the Major Crime Bureau at 712-6075, or the anonymous tip service Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Philbert’s murder is the 19th homicide on St. Croix this year and the 53rd in the territory overall. According to VIPD investigators, arrests have been made in eight of those cases, and the suspects are currently awaiting trial. One case is cleared, and one case is pending the opinion of the attorney general.

Investigators added that arrests are pending in several of the remaining nine cases.