Reggae Street resident Doris Grant and her common-law husband, Austin Underwood, were arrested and charged last week for being members of a gang. The couple was arraigned and remanded to the Belize Central Prison after being denied bail in the lower courts several days after they came under gunfire while returning home from the Trinibad concert. But what brought about the charges for the embattled businesswoman and her common-law? Here’s how ComPol Williams responded to that question.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“The GI3 has a responsibility or a mandate to investigate every person who we believe are members of any criminal gangs in Belize. They did their investigation, they had their evidence and they brought the charges. The matter is now before the court and I’ll leave it at that.”
Former Port Loyola Representative, Anthony “Boots” Martinez has been making strides to get the P.U.P. Area Representative in that area, Gilroy Usher removed through the court system. The U.D.P. had Phillip Willoughby as its standard bearer in the area since Usher’s victory. But the party is looking for someone else to represent it at the next general elections. That’s because during a recent meeting of the U.D.P.’s leadership and executive bodies, a decision was taken to remove Willoughby from that position. Willoughby recently got married, and reports are that it was Barrow who sponsored the wedding rings. But the person who Willoughby married is the daughter of his political rival in Port Loyola, Gilroy Usher. And when the news broke it came to the party leader as a surprise. Today, Leader of the Opposition Barrow said that this revelation, along with Willoughby omitting that bit of information when he shared the news is something he should not have done.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“The decision was not a unilateral decision at all by any means, but I certainly was disheartened. I was disappointed because I had stood up for Mr. Willoughby when he received massive criticism after the extremely poor performance, very much in the municipals, and I was going to stick with him and see him through to the general elections. But, when the news came out, coupled with the omission, you saw the information that he mentioned everything except that it was the daughter of his opponent, which I would think, definitely something he would want to tell the leader of his party. And regardless of whether I was generous or not to help him with the wedding ring I would. I think as the leader of the party, it would certainly be something, if you’re telling me that you’re getting married, you might want to mention that part. But I took the matter to the cabinet, because he used to serve in the cabinet, and unanimous, everybody said that there’s a conflict of interest there. This is not – I’m not saying that Philip is a bad person, or, I don’t, I’m not here to condemn him or crucify him, I’m just saying there’s a conflict there. And we can’t take the risk. It’s just a matter of risk management. And certainly, all of us feel that omitting the information definitely casts a cloud of suspicion that just cannot be removed because, like, why?
We don’t even understand why you did it. We don’t even understand anything about it. Like, you said, it’s unprecedented. But if there were a benefit of the doubt to be given, it would have been given at that point. And he could have said, this is what it is, man. Please understand. This da Romeo and Juliet and walk me mentally through it so that when we got to that point, I would have stood up for him possibly, the way that I stood up for him on the other situations where he was under attack but there was nothing that I could do. I call him Philco, I called him, and told him do the right thing brother, nuh put the party through this. I’m not upset, with Phillip I don’t have any grievances with Philip. Maybe he does with me, but I don’t have any problem. I wish them well, and I’m happy to have contributed to the wedding ring, and I hope that they live happily ever after.”
While the U.D.P. looks for a new standard bearer to represent the party in Port Loyola for the next general elections, out in Belize Rural South, the Leader of the Opposition is banking heavily on the support of the party’s former area representative, Manuel Heredia to take that seat from the P.U.P.’s Andre Perez. Barrow said that they must do what is in the best interest of the U.D.P. and they are relying on whoever Heredia recommends, and maybe the party holds a convention if there are other candidates in that constituency.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow
Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“We had a situation in Belize Rural South and the candidate had to be moved. We voted for the candidate to be moved and then we need to move forward. So certainly I played a role as far as going to the constituency and meeting with very many members of the executive past and present, including Manuel Heredia. And so no one is mentioning that the crooks of the matter with Belize Rural South. No one is icing Mr. Guerrero. He has applied. But what happened is no one else was allowed to apply. There was a rush to fill the vacancy and at the objection and protests of people like Manuel Heredia, who I will say right here and right now, we cannot win Belize Rural South without the support of Manuel Heredia, bottom line, and I want to win. Andre Perez – the weakest candidate of the P.U.P.s, he and Usher are neck and neck. We can definitely win in Belize Rural South, but we cannot do that without the support of the former minister. We have to do what is in the best interest of the party in order to win in the Belize Rural South constituency. And so the fact that Mr. Guerrero was not sworn in allowed for us to correct the error and open up the application. It is not that Mr. Guerrero, his application is there, but now, the former minister and whoever he thinks will be the best candidate and anybody else in Belize Rural South that is a member of the United Democratic Party can now apply and we may have a convention.”
The heavy rains that were expected over the weekend didn’t arrive. Had they come, the streets of the Old Capital may have drained off in very little time. Mayor Bernard Wagner told reporters on Monday that prior to the March municipal elections, the Belize City Council had carried out a robust drainage project across the city. The mayor also encourages residents to clean the drain in front of their homes to keep the water flowing and recede quickly. Even so, he cautioned that climate change will bring floods that we will have to adapt to.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“We did 127 streets out of 730 streets in the city and those 127 streets, we ensure that we had addressed the drainage, that we had addressed the culvert situation, ensuring that culverts form a part of your rehabilitation of streets. We reshaped lot of the earth and drains – the drains that have the concrete bottom – we, I had some MIT members on Central American Boulevard digging out sludge that has been accumulating for years in so many areas, and from streets behind West Landivar. This has been a consistent, ongoing drainage maintenance, drainage rehabilitation. I don’t see the flooding, and flooding will become a part of our life. That’s a reality now. It’s climate change. You see it happening in Florida. You see it happening in New York. You see it happening in Chetumal, right close to us. It will become a part of our lives. We can’t stick our head in the sand and play like it will not happen to us. You have to now look at how you mitigate and how you adapt to this climate change that is upon us. At the city we will continue to do our part and we ask that the residents do their part as well in ensuring that the drains in front of the house get clean. Clean it out, dig it out. I do, my drain in my area every two weeks. It has to become ownership from us and the residents together. We will be able to put in place a sort of mitigating action and adaptation action to really begin to change that trend that is occurring.”
The mayor explained that the pumping station near the Yarborough Bridge is ready to kick into action whenever there is excessive rains that cause widespread flooding in Belize City. But one other issue that is a bit trickier to deal with is derelict vehicles. The mayor says that the council has an ongoing program to remove derelict vehicles. It’s a recurring issue because as soon as they remove the vehicles, more are parked on the streetside again. There is an area on the Faber’s Road Extension that the council is paying keen attention to and they will put traffic markers on the street to try to prevent the problem from repeating.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“We are looking through our traffic committee and are putting together some sort of recommendation, where we will look at really redlining that entire stretch up to, I think Rio Grande Crescent. But we will – we have done a study for all the residential homes along the Faber’s Road and in that study, our city planner found that there are spaces for people to park on the area that is owned by the city for most of the homes. So we are looking to pass a required S.I after the consultations with the residents in that area in the Faber’s Road area. But we are looking to redline that entire stretch right from the Boulevard. We are redlining it up to Rio Grande Crescent. No one will be allowed to park on that street once we have completed the consultations. But that is where we want to go because we have seen that is a main thoroughfare for many of the big trucks going into the Port Area. And many times people traversing that area have to be waiting while the next vehicle comes out. And so that is one of the solutions that has come out of the traffic committee to really address that situation that has been long pending and has really been a pain for residents and pedestrians and motorists driving in that area.”
The parking meters that the Belize City Council introduced during their last term of office was met with reservation by many motorists. There was objection by families who visited the B.T.L. Park and refused to pay the parking fee. Now the Belize City Council wants to expand the project to other areas in the city. On Monday, Mayor Bernard Wagner explained what their intentions are with the parking meters.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“The parking meters are here to stay. They will not go anywhere. The parking meters, actually we want to see how we can expand those parking meters. We are currently in negotiation with the principal owners of both of these two vendors because we want to really buy them out and to see how the city can really take charge. We have the in house capabilities to really manage it in a more efficient manner and so we are having those discussions.”
Police Commissioner Chester Williams was in the Saint Martin’s area of southside Belize City where he announced that a State of Emergency has been declared in specific sections of the country.
“This morning the police department launched a state of emergency southside Belize City as well as over in northside, Victoria Street, including that entire Jungle Area. We also have an S.O.E. in the entire Cotton Tree and Roaring Creek villages in the Cayo District.”Police officers accompanied by Belize Defence Force soldiers were out in full force in the S.O.E. areas. “We are pursuing those persons who we want to be detained as a part of the S.O. E.”, Williams shared.
According to Williams, operations under the S.O.E. have yielded results. “We have been able to detain a number of persons who were wanted for murders. As you’ll see on our media blog, we had shared with you yesterday, the arrest of two individuals. One was arrested for the murder of Elwin Lewis, which took place a couple of months ago. That person had been on the run for a number of months from us and we were able to locate him yesterday. And we also charge I think Marquis Conorquie for the murder of Moore who was killed on Sunday during the day.”
Other persons have also been detained and will be investigated for other crimes. Police officers also managed to recover firearms and ammunition in both the Belize and Cayo districts.
“I must say that since we started our operations in the San Ignacio, Santa Elena area, the team there have seized at least about four firearms and a number of ammunitions, so it goes to show the work that the police has been doing in those areas to be able to crack down on the issue of crime.”
Williams told reporters that the purpose of the S.O.E. is to increase public safety and citizen security.
A deadly attack occurred on Sunday afternoon on Mahogany Street in Belize City and when it was over, a man was dead, and another sat critically wounded inside the vehicle they were traveling in. The incident happened on Mahogany Street in the Lake-I community, literally a stone’s throw away from a police substation. The passenger in the car, Stanley Moore, was dead before he was even taken to the K.H.M.H. Today, News Five’s Marion Ali spoke with his grieving mother, Jennifer Wade, who is currently in the United States. She posted an audio message on Facebook in which her deceased son said that policemen were allegedly out to get him. Here’s that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The peace of Sunday afternoon was broken on Mahogany Street, less than a block from the police sub-station, when gunshots rang out around four p.m. The two occupants of a grey BMW car came under fire. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams shares what he knows of the incident.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“The two individuals were in the area yesterday in a vehicle and while there, they came under fire from an individual. We already know who that person is and we are looking for that individual. One person died as a result of that attack and one is critically ill in the hospital. We’re hoping and praying that the one who is in the hospital critically ill is going to pull through and he will be able to give us some more specifics in terms of that incident. But again, these are the things that we spoke about.”
Williams says that the area is constantly patrolled by police officers and that moments before the crime took place, they had passed that location. Regional Commander for Eastern Division, A.C.P Hilberto Romero identified the two victims and says that they have one of two suspects in custody.
“The two persons were identified as Stanley Moore and Joshua Gillett. Stanley Moore was pronounced dead on arrival at the KHMH and Joshua Gillett received treatment and is now in a stable condition. We have one person in custody for this murder who will be charged later on today for the crime of murder. And we are seeking one more suspect.”
This afternoon, News Five spoke via phone with Stanley Moore’s mother, Jennifer Wade, who is currently in the U.S. She made a Facebook post including an audio clip she said her son sent her, accusing police officers of targeting him. Wade told us that she did not get a chance to ask him who those persons were.
Voice of: Jennifer Wade
Voice of: Jennifer Wade, Mother of Stanley Moore
“I never send a message till seven o’clock the morning when I get up and when I see the message, I pick up my phone and I send ah back wa voice clip clip saying, son, stay outta dehn way. Goh home if yoh have to go home make yoh nuh deh round the police dehn. Ih never have a phone, but I could not be tapped on because I’m a while here, straight up fi ask ah what really happened, nuh just tell me the police dehn deh after yoh, dehn di provoke yoh, weh nuh seh nothing, but I never get to talk to ah.”
What’s worse is that Moore’s older brother had just arrived in Belize just minutes before Moore was murdered and only found out about the crime when he went to look for him. Wade said that Moore had been trying to reform his life and had found a job to help himself. When we asked Romero about the accusation that Moore had made against the police, he said there was no information to share.
Britney Gordon
“In regards to Stanely Moore, his mother made some complaints that he was being harassed by police officer. Do you have any information about this?”
A.C.P Hilberto Romero
“I do not have that information.”
Britney Gordon
“She released a statement from him, an audio recording of him saying that if anything should happen to him the police are responsible. So there’s no information regarding if he had an incident with a police officer?”
Tonight, family and friends are mourning the loss fifty-year-old Dion Bowden, also known as Mister T, who was gunned down in Belize City over the weekend. Reports are that he was walking down Pitts Alley in the wee small hours of Saturday morning, when he was approached by a gunman and fatally shot.
Jeffery Pott
Police have since arrested and charged thirty-five-year-old construction worker, Jeffery Pott, who was identified through video footage and an eyewitness. He was arraigned this morning in court where he was read a single charge of murder. No plea was taken from Pott and due to the nature of the offense, he was denied bail and remanded into custody at the Belize Central Prison until August twenty-third, 2024. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the report.
Destiny Allen
Destiny Allen, Partner of Deceased
“I mi get wa dream bout ah from before that happened. I mih get wa a dream, and I mih warn ah. so many times, never fih mih gone out deh and ih still persisted and gone.”
Britney Gordon, reporting
The death of fifty-year-old Dion Bowden, or Mister T, as he was otherwise known, is felt by several members of the community who recall seeing him at the street corner. However, for Destiny Allen and her two infant daughters, that grief is immense.
Destiny Allen
“He da wa kind and loving, careful man. I would say, a nice person. Why would I say nice person Because he make sure I take care ah dih pikni good and ker ney da clinic every now and again. Ih always make you feel happy. Ih make you not feel down and fall or dendeh you know.”
The father of two’s life was cut short on Saturday after he was fatally shot in Pitts Alley. He had been walking with several companions when the gunman approached from the direction of New Road and fired. ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander of the Eastern Division, provided further details on the incident.
“On Saturday, the twenty-second day of June 2024 around one forty-five a.m. Police responded to a shooting incident at Pitts Alley in Belize City. Upon their arrival there they found the lifeless body of Dion Bowden with gunshot injuries. Investigation revealed that Dion Bowden was at the alley along with other persons when he was approached by a male person who fired several shots towards him causing his fatal injury. The onboarding was taken to the cage image where he was pronounced dead on arrival.”
Police have since charged thirty-five-year-old Jeffery Pott. According to Romero, the incident stemmed from an altercation between Pott and Bowden.
ACP Hilberto Romero
“An investigation was carried out into this shooting and since we have arrested and charge Jeffery Pott for the crime of murder.”
Britney Gordon
“Was there an altercation between them that led to the shooting?”
Hilberto Romero
“Yes, there was a previous altercation in the alley with the onboarding and another person before the shooting.”
Allen says that Bowden was inebriated the night of the incident and had warned him not to go out in that state. She explained that she had a premonition about her partner’s death but did not know that night would be the last time she would ever see him alive.
Destiny Allen
“That happened the Saturday night. Cause I actually mih deh inside with he. We sit down quite good and contented after that. It’s just, that night deh ih mih drunk. Ao I sseh, inna wa sense a way ah wa leff ah lone mek ih sit down inna wa chair, and relax itself, and noh go back out there. So ih tell me, it say babe, ih say, I wah go and tek a lee walk. I tell him, babe please no go out there. Please, because I done tell you already, neva fih mih gone out there none at all. But I wah go tek mih- no go. Right soh ah tell ah, no go. Because I done got wah feeling that something wah happen to you. And ih still persisted, ih follow and gone out there and gone and get himself killed right there.”
A psychiatric evaluation has been ordered for thirty-three-year-old Aban Grant; the man accused of stabbing sixty-seven-year-old retired U.S. Army soldier Griffith Cadle to death. As we reported, Grant allegedly stabbed Cadle on Saint Joseph Street near its intersection with Nurse Seay Street, while both men were socializing on the night of June thirteenth. Police later discovered the murder weapon inside a drain not too far from where the incident occurred. And, based on information received, they found the suspect, Aban Grant, hiding inside a building on Baymen Avenue. Authorities also found the clothing he was wearing at the time of the incident. Today, he was arraigned on one count of manslaughter. But it was not until his charge was read that the magistrate found out that Grant’s mental state was a topic of discussion. Grant’s sister told the court that he was never known to be a mental patient until after he went to prison where she claims he was diagnosed with a mental disorder. His cousin, who was also present in court, has been taken twice before to see a doctor. However, the sitting magistrate noted that there were no official documents to say what is the mental state of Grant. So, a psychiatric evaluation was ordered. The magistrate explained that for the court to get an evaluation on Grant, he must be remanded to the Belize Central Prison for a psychosis analysis from a doctor. The evaluation usually takes about six to eight weeks. Grant was unrepresented in court.
