A 22-year-old St. Croix resident arrested on two separate illegal firearm charges filed within minutes of each other this week had only recently cleared the final paperwork from a 2021 drive-by shooting case.
Tyrique A. Parris was scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Christopher M. Timmons on Friday morning in Superior Court for an Advice of Rights hearing, following complaints lodged by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice on Thursday afternoon.
Parris had received probation without conviction in December 2025 under Virgin Islands Code Section 3711(c), a deferred sentencing law that allows first-time felony offenders to avoid a criminal record if they complete court supervision successfully. The court lifted his bail and released a property lien on October 2, 2026, finalising the administrative closure of that case.
Within days, prosecutors brought fresh charges. The first complaint, filed at 3:55 PM Thursday, accuses Parris of unauthorised firearm possession, unlawful ammunition possession, first-degree reckless endangerment, and illegal discharge of a firearm. The alleged offence occurred on December 9, 2025, just six days after his sentencing hearing in the earlier case.
A second complaint, filed five minutes later at 4:00 PM, charges him with unauthorised firearm possession and unauthorised firearm possession in a vehicle, with an alleged offence date of September 18, 2026.
In the 2021 case, Parris had faced attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and unauthorised firearm possession charges following a shooting near Island Vybz Grill at Barren Spot Village Mall on November 15, 2021. Police said the incident began with a dispute at a service station in Estate Diamond Ruby. When two people drove away to defuse the confrontation, Parris allegedly chased them in a silver Infiniti and fired on their vehicle in the roadway and parking lot.
After nearly three years of pre-trial proceedings and a plea agreement reached in early 2025, Parris received the probation without conviction order on December 22, 2025. Under the statute, eligible offenders can complete supervision without an adjudication of guilt, preserving a clean criminal record upon successful completion.
Parris is represented by the Office of the Territorial Public Defender as the court considers pre-trial release and bail conditions.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.