Ex-Prosecutor Convicted for Aiding Fugitive Boyfriend
BASSETERRE — Former Crown Counsel prosecutor Shantrice Dorset was convicted on three of six charges Monday after a judge-alone trial found she helped her fugitive boyfriend evade a firearm investigation while serving as a public officer, and she was immediately remanded into custody pending sentencing.
Justice Patrick Thompson Jr. delivered the High Court verdict, convicting Dorset, 29, of attempting to pervert the course of justice, misprision of felony and misconduct in public office. She was acquitted of the corresponding murder-related charges and of corruption.
The case centered on Dorset’s relationship with Kyrhon Phillip, also known as “Tall Up,” who fled St. Kitts by sea two days after Akeem Archibald was fatally shot in Conaree on July 20, 2024. Evidence showed Phillip brought a rifle to his cousin, Beejay Tuckett, hours after the killing, and that Tuckett was later arrested in connection with the firearm.
Banking and ferry records showed Dorset transferred $560 to Phillip at 11:57 a.m. on July 22, 2024 — the same minute he purchased a ferry ticket to St. Eustatius with onward travel to Saint Maarten. The court found Dorset knew Phillip had information about the recovered firearm and intended to help him leave the Federation, a finding that grounded her convictions on the firearm-related charges.
Text messages extracted from Dorset’s phone featured prominently at trial. In one exchange, she wrote that Phillip knew police “would come for him to try lock him up” and that “he ain want no lock up.” Other messages referenced Phillip’s DNA potentially being on a bag of clothes connected to the firearm.
The court acquitted Dorset of the murder-related counts, finding the evidence did not establish she knew Phillip was linked to Archibald’s killing or that she sent the money to obstruct that specific investigation. She was also cleared of corruption over a call she made to Assistant Commissioner of Police Travis Rogers about a gun-surrender amnesty, which the Crown had argued was made to benefit Phillip.
On misconduct in public office, the court held that Dorset, while still a public officer, sustained communication with Phillip after learning he was wanted by police, amounting to a wilful breach of public trust.
In a postscript, the court said Archibald’s family had “every right to feel aggrieved,” pointing to gaps in the murder investigation, including the absence of forensic reconstruction and the failure to pursue several aliases found in the communications.
Dorset was arrested and charged in January 2025 following a special investigation ordered by Director of Public Prosecutions Adlai Smith. Both perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, though the eventual sentence will depend on culpability, harm and mitigating factors. Phillip remains in custody overseas awaiting trial on firearms charges.
Mr. Adley Duncan, Special Prosecutor, and local prosecutor Ms. Kyrstal Sukra represented the Crown. Mr. Denis Merchant represented Dorset.
