LIU Director Speaks on Murder of Gang Leader Brandon Baptist 

Notorious gang leader Brandon Baptist, who was on a path to reform after turning to faith, was shot and killed Friday night during a football game at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex in Belize City. The shooting, which occurred just after 9 p.m., also left three others wounded: 37-year-old John Grinage, 26-year-old Herson Mena, and 21-year-old Cameron Williams. While Williams was treated and released, Grinage and Mena remain hospitalised.

Baptist died on the scene.

He had been actively involved with the Leadership Intervention Unit (LIU), an organisation focused on helping at-risk youth in the community. LIU employed Baptist along with several other at-risk youths from his neighbourhood.

Dominique Noralez, Director and Chairperson of LIU, told News 5, “There have been a few persons who have passed as a result of murder that have really impacted me, and Brandon Baptist is one of those… He was always full of life, always willing to talk.”

“I considered him to be not only an employee of the socioeconomic programs that LIU has. I considered him to be a friend. And I am, I’m very sad about how this happened,” Noralez added.

Noralez said that LIU’s role has been one that is important in the rehabilitation of violent communities, by providing employment and social programs, including a new apprenticeship initiative with the Community Rehabilitation Department, which offers young people opportunities for vocational training and job placements.

“All the specialised units that are now on the ground, we have to remain in contact with them to advise them about the way to approach because we are not a securitisation unit. That is not our role. Our role is one of rehabilitation, one of restoration, one of simply giving people a listening ear, and supporting them through this time,” she said.

“You never want to, irrespective of whatever this is, dehumanise a person after they have passed,” Noralez added. She said no one should assume that others “deserve” poverty or suffering just because it hasn’t affected them personally. Noralez said, “You cannot divorce yourself from the experience of persons who live on a certain side of the Halowa Creek.”