St. Thomas Woman Charged in Domestic Violence Case Involving Knife Threat

A St. Thomas woman faces domestic violence charges following an incident at an apartment in Anna's Retreat on September 28, authorities said.

Ceara Roberts was arrested Monday after police responded to a disturbance call around 6:57 a.m. Her boyfriend, Pierre Louis, told officers he woke to discover her running a knife along his back, which left a small scratch on his upper right shoulder.

According to police records, the confrontation had started several hours earlier, near 2:00 a.m., when Louis arrived home. Roberts demanded to smell his clothes and body; when he declined, a verbal dispute intensified. During the argument, Roberts told him to "sleep with his eyes open."

Louis said that after waking to the blade, Roberts repeatedly drove the knife into the mattress. The weapon struck his smartphone during this action, puncturing the screen and rendering it unusable. Officer Shennel Weekes documented the scratch on Louis's shoulder and the damage to his phone but found no puncture marks in the mattress and recovered no knife from the bedroom.

When questioned, Roberts acknowledged the early-morning argument and said she threw the phone down in anger. She rejected the allegation that she had used or brandished a knife against Louis, instead claiming he had pushed her away during their dispute.

Roberts appeared before Superior Court Magistrate Simone M. VanHolten-Turnbull on Tuesday for an advice-of-rights hearing. The magistrate charged her with destruction of property and aggravated assault and battery under domestic violence law, found probable cause, and released her on a $1,000 unsecured bond.

Her release conditions include weekly probation check-ins, continued employment as a lash technician, no contact with the victim, prohibition on weapons or controlled substances, and a requirement to obtain court permission before leaving the St. Thomas/St. John district. She may make one police-escorted trip to the apartment to retrieve her belongings.

Roberts is scheduled for formal arraignment on Friday, October 16, at 10:00 a.m. in Superior Court on St. Thomas.