ST. CROIX MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SECOND DEGREE MURDER

St. Croix, VI – United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced today that Elvin Wrensford, 38, of St. Croix, pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Emile Henderson, III to Murder Second Degree and Possession of a Firearm in a School Zone.

According to court documents, on May 10, 2012, Wrensford and Craig Muller were at Ben’s Car Wash in St. Croix when an argument ensued with Gilbert Hendricks, Jr. Wrensford and Muller left the car wash but later returned and approached Hendricks who tried to escape by running towards Food Town Supermarket. Wrensford and Muller followed Hendricks, and Wrensford fired several shots at Hendricks from the passenger side of their vehicle. Two days later, Hendricks succumbed to injuries caused from being shot twice in the head.

Within one hour of the shooting, Wrensford was apprehended in Estate St. John, approximately one and a half miles from the crime scene and six feet from a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Muller was apprehended several days after the shooting in Puerto Rico on his way to New York. Forensic analysis conducted on the shell casings recovered from the crime scene was linked to the firearm and the vehicle used by Wrensford and Muller in the attack. The shooting occurred within 1,000 feet of the St. Croix Christian Academy. Sentencing for Wrensford is scheduled for January 17, 2024. Muller was convicted by a federal jury in March 2015 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the Virgin Islands Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rhonda Williams-Henry and Evan Rikhye.