Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in brother's killing

A man charged with killing his brother on St. Croix in 2019 has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, according to V.I. Superior Court records.

Jamal Joseph was 24 when he was arrested on Jan. 12, 2019 and charged with the murder of his brother, 30-year-old Allan Joseph. The brothers got into an altercation outside a home in Estate Whim, and family members inside the home told police they heard a single shot. Officers arrived and found Allan Joseph dead inside his vehicle, with a gunshot wound to his upper body.

Jamal Joseph was charged with first-degree murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and related crimes. Joseph remained jailed while he underwent court-ordered psychiatric examinations, and a judge determined in 2021 that he was not competent to assist in his own defense and stand trial. According to V.I. Superior Court records, Dr. Evadne Sang diagnosed Joseph as having “a dissociative disorder which to this day prevents him from grasping what happened with his brother,” and he “is still not clear with what happened at the time of the alleged events and has given several conflicting explanations.”