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Jul 1, 2008 10:30 pm US/Eastern
Suspect Charged In Island Slaying Of Bucks Co. Man
NEW HOPE, Pa. (CBS3/AP) ―
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James Cockayne, 21, was fatally stabbed in the U.S. Virgin Islands in June 2007.
CBS
U.S. Virgin Islands authorities say a 20-year-old from St. John has been charged in the June 2007 slaying of a Bucks County man.
The three-island territory's Justice Department says Jahlil Ward was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 21-year-old James Cockayne of New Hope, Pa.
Two other men -- 31-year-old Anselmo Boston and 18-year-old Kamal Thomas -- are also being held as suspects in the Virgin Islands.
Attorney General Vincent Frazer alleges the three men killed Cockayne after a bar fight. They are expected to be tried as co-defendants in October.
The deadly ordeal has been a long and frustrating process for Cockayne's mother.
Jeanie Cockayne and her husband have made numerous trips back to the Island to see how the investigation was going, but she says no one would tell them anything.
"I am the mother of a boy that was murdered and if they would have opened up to me just a bit, something, anything," Jeanie said.
Jeanie says she wants to make sure justice is served, but she is not sure she is strong enough to return to the Virgin Islands to see the legal process through to the end.
"I'm not sure I can make it back there again because every time I go back, it takes me a really long time to recover, I know my husband and son will go," Jeanie said.
James Cockayne had moved to the U.S. Virgin Islands and was set to begin work at a yacht club.
The suspect's next court appearance will be in August.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
