Four Men, Including Police Constable, Arraigned for Murder

Tonight, four men from the Faber’s Road area, including a police officer, are behind bars at the Belize Central Prison for the Monday morning murder of taxi driver Shawn Ortiz. The suspects are thirty-five-year-old Kyle Domingo from Madam Liz Avenue, twenty-eight-year-old Gasman Jones from Rio Bravo Crescent, forty-seven-year-old Charles Alexander Brown, who works for the Leadership Intervention Unit, and twenty-three-year-old Police Constable Peter Perez, also from Rio Bravo Crescent. They appeared in court without lawyers at around ten a.m., where the magistrate charged them with murder for the incident on Jaguar Avenue. The magistrate told the men that they couldn’t enter a plea because the charges are indictable offenses. Since the charges are serious, they couldn’t be granted bail and were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until January sixth, 2025. Domingo asked if he could get a copy of the case facts, and the magistrate ordered that each defendant be given one right away. They handed these documents to their attorney. Outside the courtroom, Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson said he is representing PC Perez and Jones, while the other two men are still without legal representation. Before the arraignment wrapped up, it came to light that Domingo owed the court five hundred dollars from a COVID-19 pandemic conviction. He seemed surprised and said he thought the charge had been dismissed. Charles Brown was also informed that he owed three hundred and five dollars. The magistrate told them that their warrants would be sent up so they could serve out their fines in prison while on remand.