Family recalls slain Riviera Beach man’s ‘bright personality’

RIVIERA BEACH — Romario Joseph moved to South Florida from his native Jamaica nearly three years ago, picking up odd jobs working in construction.

He visited his grand-uncle’s Riviera Beach home nearly every day, hanging out with friends in the neighborhood. Playing in pickup football games was one of his favorite hobbies.

But rather than seeing Joseph’s familiar presence in the neighborhood Thursday, family members were preparing to send his body back to Jamaica, nearly a week after he was fatally stabbed in his car at a Riviera Beach intersection.

Speaking outside his home Thursday, Basil Johnson, Joseph’s uncle, remembered Joseph as a “happy kid” who enjoyed spending time with friends.

“He had a bright personality,” Johnson said. “Everybody liked him. He liked to have fun.”

Johnson said he does not know much about the man accused of taking nephew’s life — 27-year-old Douglas Stennett of suburban West Palm Beach — but said he has heard from others in the community that his nephew and Stennett had had disputes in recent months.

Stennett reportedly told police he and Joseph knew each other because they frequented the same store but had never had an altercation before Saturday.

Authorities say Joseph, 21, suffered a fatal stab wound to his heart. He crashed his vehicle in the 1500 block of Australian Avenue, south of Blue Heron Boulevard, moments after being attacked.

Stennett, who faces a charge of second-degree murder, told police Joseph made a threat against him as the men were stopped at a traffic light near Riviera Beach. The men continued to the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Australian, where Stennett got out of his car and approached Joseph’s vehicle, police said.

Stennett told police he approached Joseph’s car to ask what the problem was, and Joseph brandished a pocketknife. The men struggled over the knife until Joseph rolled up his window and drove away.

Stennett told police he cut Joseph on the face during the incident.

Witnesses told police Stennett made stabbing motions before fleeing the scene with blood on his hands.

Stennett is being held without bond at the Palm Beach County Jail.

Johnson said Joseph’s body is being returned to Kingston, Jamaica, where Joseph grew up and where much of his family remains.

He decried a recent spate of violence in Riviera Beach that claimed the lives of his nephew and two others between Saturday and Tuesday.

In incidents believed to be unrelated, Norriesha Hills, a 22-year-old mother of two, was shot and killed Monday night as a gunman opened fire into a crowd in the National Village neighborhood near Blue Heron and Congress Avenue. A 27-year-old man, Kevin Humphrey, died after being shot on the 1300 block of West 36th Street on Tuesday.

Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters has called for a town hall meeting this evening at City Hall to discuss the recent rash of violence.

“They need to do something about what’s going on,” Johnson said. “It’s too much violence, too much crime . ... It’s like nobody cares about (anybody’s) life anymore.”

Johnson said his message to his nephew’s alleged killer and to others would be to learn how to settle disputes without resorting to violence.

“You’ve got to curb your anger,” he said. “People need to curb their anger and not take it out in such a violent way . ... You’ve got to learn to walk away.”