Placencia Man Murdered In His Car

In another act of gun violence in southern Belize, a Placencia resident was murdered this weekend while sitting inside his vehicle. Reports are that on Sunday, thirty-two-year-old Roy Burgess was giving a ride to an acquaintance, twenty-six-year-old Maya James, when the two were approached by a male individual who proceeded to fire several shots in their direction, resulting in the death of Burgess and injury to James. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the full report.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

In the early hours of Sunday morning, April fourteenth, Roy Burgess pulled off to the side of mile twenty-two on the Placencia Road near the Finca Beach Villa entrance, preparing to drop off his friend, Maya James, when the two were approached by a gunman who opened fired on them. James suffered an injury to her face and was taken to the hospital where she is still receiving treatment. Unfortunately, Burgess succumbed to his injury. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero provided us with some more details.

 

ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Easter Division

“On Sunday, the fourteenth of April 2024, police responded to a shooting incident at Placencia.  Upon arrival, they saw the motionless body of a male person later identified as Roy Burgess with gunshot injuries.  And Maya James, 26 years, was seen with a gunshot injury to the face.  James was taken for medical treatment and is presently recovering. Roy Burgess was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Information is that both of them were in a vehicle in the area. When he and the person came and fired several shots towards the direction, causing the fatal injuries to Roy Burgess and the injury to James. We are seeking one suspect in regards to this murder investigation.”

 

According to Romero, police believe that this incident was due to a domestic dispute, however, they noted that Burgess does not have any prior domestic reports that they are aware of. At this time, they are seeking one male suspect.  The incident occurred near the entrance to Finca Beach Villa, where a friend of Burgess, Andrea Miksic resides. She said that she had been socializing with friends at the time of the shooting.

 

Andrea Miksic, Friend of Deceased

“Well, I was getting ready to go to bed. We were playing dominoes up here by the sea on my porch and we heard what sounded like, I heard one gunshot, but  somebody else here thought there were three.”

 

Britney Gordon

“And what happened immediately following hearing the gunshots?”

 

Andrea Miksic

“Oh, we thought we weren’t sure it was a gunshot and we thought maybe somebody was messing around or like we weren’t that concerned right away and then we saw some cars up there, and when we went to check, it was a crime scene. I didn’t know it was Roy.”

 

Britney Gordon

“So reports are saying that he was dropping someone off in this area. Did you know that he was coming around? Were you expecting him?”

 

Andrea Miksic       

“No, not at all.  I heard he had been at the point.”

 

Miksic said that Burgess’ sudden death was shocking, as she did not know him to be involved in any trouble.

 

Andrea Miksic       

“He was a really nice guy. I mean, I didn’t know him well enough to know if he had any bad history or anything, but I hadn’t heard about anything and you know the way people talk here, if there was something going on, there would have been rumors about it. But, yeah. He was, he was a really nice guy. I never knew him to be involved in anything like shady or he gave me rides a few times.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.