Facing Federal Charges, Man Who Shot Mother and Daughter Says He Acted in Self Defense

Miguel Marrero, charged in federal and local courts, alleges accidental shooting while blinded by blood during altercation

ST. CROIX — In addition to the charges against him currently pending in the V.I. Superior Court, criminal proceedings against Miguel Marrerro — the man who admitted to shooting two people at the Candido Guadeloupe housing community last week — have also commenced in District Court of the Virgin Islands.

Attached to a complaint filed on July 5 is an affidavit provided by a special agent of the Department of Homeland Security, detailing the incident as reported by witnesses and officers of the V.I. Police Department.

‌According to the affidavit, while Marrero admitted to shooting the two individuals, he said that it was inadvertent. During the altercation between his son and the minor girl, he said that her mother ran up to him and punched him in the eye. He reportedly told police that the woman’s ring caused him to bleed, rendering him unable to see. Allegedly blinded by blood in both eyes, Marrero told police that he nevertheless noticed several people running towards him, and thus drew his firearm and fired several shots, ostensibly as a deterrent. That was when he saw the woman fall to the ground, the suspect told investigators.