Police arrested Kevin Warrell at the St. Thomas airport on murder charges in J’Niya Rambaran's death

First-degree murder and second-degree murder charged together are alternate accusations, not two findings. A $1 million bail order and a remand to the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing decide where Warrell waits. They do not decide the Veterans Drive shooting.

The Virgin Islands Police Department said its gunshot detection system registered multiple shots on Veterans Drive in St. Thomas at about 1 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2026. Officers found a woman with at least one gunshot wound. She was taken to Schneider Regional Medical Center, where she died. Next of kin identified her as J’Niya Rambaran, 21, the department said, in an account also reported by the VI Consortium and St. Croix Source.

Police said detectives later identified Warrell, 21, from information in the investigation and from surveillance footage. On Saturday, Oct. 3, they learned he was at Cyril E. King Airport preparing to board a flight to the U.S. mainland, detained him, and took him to the Richard N. Callwood Command. He was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. St. Croix Source, citing the department, reported that a court set bail at $1 million and that, unable to post it, he was remanded to the Bureau of Corrections pending an advice-of-rights hearing.

Those counts are the charges. An arrest at the airport is how police say they took him into custody. It is not proof of a plan to flee, and it is not a verdict. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.