A Virgin Islands landlord is calling on the government to intervene after a young man suspected of severe mental illness allegedly attacked two of her tenants, leaving a senior citizen hospitalised with stitches. Photo: Facebook

According to the landlord’s facebook statement, the incident occurred two weeks ago as her tenants, a senior woman and her younger roommate, waited outside their rental home for a church bus to take them to an evening service. She says the young man approached from behind the house, mumbled something, then struck the older woman in the back with a hard object he was carrying in a bag, knocking her to the ground and causing facial injuries that required hospital treatment and stitches. Photo: Internet Source

Part of the social media post by landlord Maris Hodge-Wright. Photo: Facebook

Elderly woman hospitalised

In a social media post on September 9, 2026, Maris Hodge-Wright reported that the incident occurred two weeks ago as her tenants, a senior woman and her younger roommate, waited outside their rental home for a church bus to take them to an evening service.

Hodge-Wright said the young man approached from behind the house, mumbled something, then struck the elderly woman in the back with a "hard object" he was carrying in a bag, knocking her to the ground and causing facial injuries that required hospital treatment and stitches.

The landlord continued that the mentally ill man then turned toward the younger woman in an apparent attempt to attack her as well, but she managed to escape and call the police.

The suspect subsequently fled the scene and was not arrested. 

Both women, according to Hodge-Wright, now report symptoms consistent with post‑traumatic stress, including hypervigilance and nightmares, and say they feel unsafe living alone at the property where the attacker approached from the rear of the house.

Landlord: ‘This was not his first attack’

The landlord said she has been told this was not the man’s first violent incident, alleging that one prior attack targeted a young mother carrying her child.

Hodge-Wright also pointed to a separate, long‑standing problem in Road Town, where members of the Road Town Methodist Church say they have been “terrorised for years” by another young man known to attack people—including, she says, her own grandson. 

In a strongly worded appeal on Facebook, the landlord argued that both the alleged attacker and his victims are failed by a system that does not provide safe housing and treatment for people with severe mental illness, while also failing to deliver justice and protection to those who are harmed.

“For a country that is by no means poor, and having one of the best economies in the Caribbean, we can do better; we must do better for those individuals who cannot help themselves and put our communities at risk,” she said.

Hodge-Wright is urging politicians gearing up for the next election to publicly outline plans to address the needs of severely mentally disturbed individuals and to improve community safety.

“Please do something before someone is severely hurt or killed.”

Hodge-Wright's message to decision‑makers is direct and addresses the intersection of mental health care, public safety, and justice so that vulnerable residents are neither left to deteriorate on the streets nor allowed to endanger others without intervention.