A 31-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in St Croix for assault and child abuse, after her son’s high school made an emergency call to the police.
According to the US Virgin Islands Police Department, the 911 emergency call center received a child abuse complaint from the John H. Woodson Junior High School on December 4, prompting their investigations.
A Detective from the Domestic Violence Unit assigned to investigate the matter, made contact with the victim who indicated he was strangled by a family member. The victim said he was unable to breathe at the time and had visible injuries to the neck as a result of the strangulation.
Providing a statement upon being contacted, Derima admitted to putting her hand around the victim’s throat, but indicated “it was only to keep him under control.”
Derima was charged with Second Degree Assault; an act of Domestic Violence, with additional charges of Child Abuse and Simple Assault and Battery DV.
She was not given bail and was booked and remanded to the John Bell Correctional Facility pending her Advice of Rights Hearing.
