Philipsburg:--- The tow truck driver from French St. Martin that is in police custody has been charged with homicide, confirmed Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos in an email on Friday.
Christian Cox was arrested early Wednesday morning at the scene of the accident on A.J.C Browers Road not far away from Jack's look-out Point where his girlfriend who was in the tow truck with him ended up dead.
The victim has been identified as Karen Ruiz Jonah (33) years old who hails from Panama but is also a resident of French St. Martin. SMN News learnt that the victim and the suspect have a child in common.
While Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson said the truck driver (Christian Cox) was detained and he was assisting with the investigation, it is now clear that the man is being held as a suspect in the death of his partner.
Police said earlier that it was not clear to them if the woman jumped out of the vehicle as she was having a fight with her boyfriend who was the driver of the tow truck at the time of the accident. While the Chief Prosecutor said the driver of the tow truck has been charged with homicide, it is not clear what type of evidence they have to substantiate the charges since there were no eyewitnesses to the accident that occurred shortly after 3am Wednesday morning.
SMN News learnt that some police officers managed to reach the scene very quickly and they secured the crime scene which allowed the forensic department to gather all the evidence at the scene where the accident occurred. Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson said that police conducted a reconstruction of the crime scene early Wednesday morning as they tried to determine exactly what transpired and how the woman who was inside the truck ended up dead on A.J.C Browers Road.
On Friday afternoon, Christian Cox was led before the judge of instruction, confirmed Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos. Mos said Cox was led before the judge to see whether the arrest and the prolongation of the custody by the prosecutor were according to the rule of law. Mos further explained that the judge did not find any problems with the arrest of the suspect who is charged with homicide; therefore his pre-trial detention was prolonged until January 5th, 2013. The island's Chief Prosecutor further explained that within this period the prosecutor will have to decide whether Cox will be released or if his pretrial detention will be extended. Mos said the decision will be taken depending on the outcome of the ongoing investigation.