Thirty-seven-year-old Paul Arthurs of Ontario Village, Cayo District, was fatally stabbed on Saturday night in the New Site area of Blackman Eddy Village. Arthurs was involved in an altercation prior to his murder. Authurs sustained multiple injuries, including a severe stab wound to the abdomen. Arthurs was quickly transported to the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan, where he was pronounced dead minutes later. Several individuals are in police custody.
Meanwhile, in Orange Walk, police are investigating the murder of sixty-year-old Norman Winston Gillett. Gillett was shot several times early on Sunday morning while he was on Monkey River Street in Orange Walk Town. Two other persons, including the deceased’s son and an acquaintance, were shot. Investigators believe that Gillett’s murder may be the result of an altercation that occurred earlier that night. We are told that a suspect has been identified.
The third murder reportedly occurred on Sunday night in Santa Elena Town, Cayo District. Anthony Smith was shot dead while he was in front of China Town Store. He was rushed to the hospital, where he later succumbed.
We begin tonight’s newscast with the arraignment of a young man who is accused of opening fire on the home of Commissioner of Police Chester Williams earlier this week. The incident happened on Tuesday night while the ComPol was out of the country. At home was his twenty-two-year-old son who contacted him by text message informing him that someone was shooting at the residence. Tonight, twenty-one-year-old Threvane Thomas is on remand at the Belize Central Prison. The resident of Camalote Village appeared in the Magistrate’s Court in Belmopan this morning. He is facing a raft of charges, including aggravated assault and possession of a prohibited firearm, which was a forty-five-calibre pistol. Police were quick in apprehending Thomas after surveillance cameras at the residence captured him.
Thomas will have his day in court as he spends his first night in jail, and today we had an opportunity to ask the Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa to speak about the attack on the commissioner’s home. He thinks the incident was egregious and cowardly and he says the police are looking for two more culprits who they believe acted along with Thomas to carry out the crime.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“It is, in my opinion, a very egregious and brazen attack on one of our most prominent public servants the commissioner of police. And our ministry and the government on a whole we absolutely condemn this type of reaction from these gang elements. Who in my opinion are trying to make a statement. I can tell you that individual has already been detained. He has already been charged with the offense of aggravated assault with possession of a prohibited firearm. And so that person will be spending some time at Hattieville, at Colby Foundation. But he did not act in isolation. He acted in concert with other individuals. We already have information on who those individuals are, and the police are actively pursuing those individuals.”
One of two suspects accused of a triple murder walked free today after being acquitted due to a lack of evidence. He is twenty-three-year-old Shawn Flores, who stood trial for the murder of Alarice Andrewin, Vidal Yuman and Maria Juarez. All three individuals were bound and shot during a home invasion at mile ten on the George Price Highway in June 2019. Subsequently, then nineteen-year-old Kyle Zetina was charged for the crime after video footage placed him at the scene and, then eighteen-year-old Shawn Flores was jointly charged. However, in the case of Flores, there was no evidence linking him to the crime other than his caution statement, which his defense claims was beaten out of him by police. With no other evidence to link him to the murder, Flores was acquitted this morning. Unlike his co-accused, the crown has presented substantial evidence to be admissible in the trial against Zetina. His trial will continue July fifteenth, 2024.
A long, violent dispute that resulted in the shooting death of thirty-seven-year-old Leslie Gillett in January 2022, was decided upon in the High Court this morning. Earl Baptist, a resident of Police Street, who stood trial for the murder of the Burrell Boom businessman, has been found guilty. He appeared before Justice Derick Sylvester and gave an unsupported alibi, telling the court that on the evening of the deadly shooting he was with his father and common-law wife at the Northern Fishermen‘s Cooperative. Despite providing the court with an explanation of his whereabouts, Baptist did not call on anyone to testify on his behalf. As we’ve reported, Gillett, otherwise known as Dimes, was gunned down by a pair of men who entered Matilda’s Shop on the night of January twenty-first, 2022. The men were there to exact revenge for a murder that took place in the village two years earlier. After pretending to make a purchase, the gunmen fired multiple shots at Gillett, who died at the scene of the shooting. During the subsequent trial, Sergeant Rollington Fuller testified that shortly after the shooting, he was invited to view the surveillance footage that was retrieved from cameras mounted inside the shop. Under oath, the police officer told the court that, from the video, he saw a Hispanic male with a white shirt and a camouflage facemask. Moments later, he saw two males approaching the shop. One of them was seen wearing a black face mask, with black stockings, and dreadlocks covering it. While Fuller was unable to determine the identity of the second person, he was able to positively identify Baptist. July fifteenth has been set as the date for mitigation pleas to be heard on Baptist’s behalf.
Another family member has come forward in protest of the state of emergency, which was brought into force on Tuesday. Since then, the police have been making the rounds in Belize City to arrest individuals believed to be involved in gang activity, in an attempt to control the recent spike in violent crimes. Tonight, Helen Samuels voices her concern for twenty-year-old son Ralston McDonald and her frustration with the police department. She claims that her son is being unjustly detained and is pleading for his release.
Helen Samuels
Helen Samuels, Mother of Detained
“When I reach da Raccoon Street Police Station, ney tell me ney ker them up. Well, an officer come out and talk to me and tell me go check Queen Street Police Station. When I reach da Queen Street Police Station, they no got ah deh. They ker ah up da jail. So, di I ask why they ker ah up da jail when da P.I.V. investigation ney pick ah up fah. Forty-eight DA forty-eight. Ih supposed to mih come out four o’clock Wednesday evening. They ker my son da jail. My son da no criminal. Ralston da no criminal. Ralston just started life. Ralson just turned twenty. Why unu wa paint my pikni as a criminal fah? Because we live in Gungulung. Not everybody live da Gungulung da wa criminal. I need this fi stop because my son da no criminal. You understand me? I need this to stop. I want my son got wa free place fi walk. Unu cya di come and plant my son as a criminal, because my son is not a criminal. My son is an easy-going boy. You understand me? I need it to stop. Whole Easter holiday, they gunned down my son like my son murder. Please make ney get my son outta that place, because my son no belong there. That da fi criminal. If my son mi got a bad record, then I coulda mi understand it, even if I’m there. But my son got wa good record, so I need fi deh yah fi fight fi my son. What about the rest of the children deh, weh ney ma dead? Because da no only my son. They next two bwai weh gone up, ney ma dead. So who ney got fi fight fi fa? Nobody noh deh fi fight fi ney.You understand me? That’s why I deh yah. My eyes still open. That’s why I deh yah fi fight for my son.”
High Court Justice Derick Sylvester found Earl Baptist guilty of the 2022 shooting murder of thirty-two-year-old Leslie Norman Gillett. Gillett, a businessman, was executed inside his establishment, Matilda’s Shop, in Burrell Boom Village on January 21, 2022.
The Crown presented video footage showing the murder and a police witness who identified one of the two shooters as Earl Baptist, despite his wearing a COVID-19 face mask and stockings over his head. The second shooter was never identified or charged, but during the trial, the police witness indicated a belief about the possible identity of the second shooter, who had recently been killed.
Baptist provided an alibi in an unsworn testimony from the dock, claiming he was with his father and common-law wife, but he did not call anyone to testify on his behalf. Justice Sylvester will hear a mitigation plea on July 15, 2024, before issuing a sentence.
Someone assaulted the home of Commissioner of Police Chester Williams on Tuesday night in what appears to be a copycat crime. Sometime after nine p.m., an individual rode up to the ComPol’s residence in Belmopan, stood on the roadside and opened fire on the concrete two-storey building, before riding off on a motorcycle. Inside the residence at the time of the shooting was Williams’ twenty-two-year-old son. Following a series of S.O.E. operations in Belize City yesterday, the commissioner boarded a flight to the United States and was en route to New York City when he received a disturbing text message from his son. The top cop was informed that his home was being fired upon, just a few days after the police station in nearby Roaring Creek was sprayed with a shower of bullets. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with our first story.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“If they think that I am going to be perturbed or intimidated by their action then they have the wrong man. So they can come and shoot a million times, that will not distract me from doing what I need to do. But what I can say to them is that they will be pursued no matter where they go. They will be caught and they will be dealt with.”
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was on the ground on Tuesday morning, where a state of emergency came into effect in the Lake Independence area, as well as other parts of Belize City. During our interview with him, we learned that he was traveling to the United States later that day on official business as Belize’s chief law enforcement officer. Little did he know that, like the incident which happened in Roaring Creek a few days earlier, his residence would also come under gunfire.
Chester Williams
“Well the person went by on motorcycle and he passed in front of the house and he stopped a distance away and fired the shots from there. So again, it goes to show that he’s a coward. I am sure that whoever, that this individual knew I was not at home because they might have heard on the news that I was leaving the country yesterday, following the operations for the SOE and so they took the opportunity, knowing that I was not at home, to have done this. Just about an hour before landing in New York, I got a call from my son who was at home, but the data that you purchase on the plane does not allow you for voice calls., you can only text. So I could not have answered his call. So I messaged him and said to him, “I am in flight. Kindly text.”
The message he received from his son, who was home alone at the time, required immediate action.
Chester Williams
“He text me quickly and said that shots were being fired at the house. I right away forwarded the message to the Belmopan Police Station and asked them to have the police respond immediately and I directed my son not to come out, to stay inside the house secured until the police would arrive there. I must say that the police got there very quickly and they dealt with the situation. They examined the house and reviewed the surveillance camera system that I have at home and they were able to obtain some very useful information.”
Threvane Thomas
Surveillance footage from the scene of the shooting led to the subsequent arrest of this individual, twenty-one-year-old Threvane Thomas, a resident of Camalote Village. Not only was he found with a weapon, steps have also been taken to proceed with a ballistics analysis.
Chester Williams
“They were able to apprehend a suspect, along with the firearm which we believe to have been used in the incident. The firearm is a forty-five caliber pistol that has been packaged and been sent to the National Forensic Science Services ballistics section for examination to be compared with the shells that were found at the scene. So I must say that the police did act very swiftly in making sure that they were able to investigate and find who is responsible.”
ComPol Williams has taken grave offense to the assault on the Roaring Creek Police Station, describing the precinct as a location that is like. an officer’s residence. Less than thirteen hours later, his home would come under attack. Why?
Chester Williams
“His mother happened to be a cook at the training academy. So, she and I have never had any encounter per se. I don’t even know who she is. But that’s as far as I know about him. I know that he has been in trouble with the law before, charged with different offenses and we are looking at him very closely to see who are his close associates. We have a person of interest that we are looking at likewise. It is something that I take very seriously and we will act decisively in making sure that the perpetrators of this and other incidents are brought to justice.”
The Commissioner of Police has taken measures to ensure the safety of his son while away until the weekend.
Chester Williams
“My son is okay. He is like his father, very brave and very courageous young man, he was raised well and he remains at home. Yes, I have put certain security measures in place to ensure his safety until I return back to Belize this coming weekend.”
The spread of illegal weapons across the country remains a critical issue for the Ministry of Home Affairs. Belize’s porous land borders with Guatemala and Mexico are often used for the unfettered smuggling of guns and ammunition into the country. The recent attack on the Roaring Creek Police Station was pulled off using a forty-caliber firearm. The weapon of choice for the gunman who let loose on the ComPol’s house on Tuesday night was a forty-five-caliber handgun. So what is the department doing to remove these dangerous weapons off the streets?
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“We do know that a number of illegal and prohibited weapons are smuggled into the country via the porous western border area and certainly, yes, that has created to some degree the proliferation of these guns across Belize and particularly the Cayo District and Belize District. So the police have conducted numerous operations and as I reported to you yesterday in my interview that from the operations that we have done in the San Ignacio/Santa Elena area over the past two weeks, we have removed five firearms and several ammunition off the street in the San Ignacio/Santa Elena area. So it goes to show that the police have been very active in making sure that we remove these guns off the streets. But again, you would know that the border area is very porous and as much as we are removing, some are coming in, and we just have to continue to work to see how we can intercept these persons with their weapons whenever they are moving around with them.”
On Tuesday, a state of emergency was declared to control the rise in violent, gang-related crimes. It is the second S.O.E. to be enacted within the past six months. A few hours later, an on-duty security guard was murdered at Sadie Vernon High School. Twenty-eight-year-old Kadeem Babb was working the night shift when his security booth came under attack by gunfire, killing him. We spoke with Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, who said that although the attack was targeted at Babb, it was not the result of gang activity. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with more information.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
There’s been another murder in Belize City and this time it happened on the grounds of Sadie Vernon High School in Saint Martin De Porres. The latest victim of the surge in violent crimes is twenty-eight-year-old Kadeem Babb, who was working the night shift at the school’s security booth. Debroah Martin is the principal of Sadie Vernon High School.
Debroah Martin
Debroah Martin, Principal, Sadie Vernon High School
“I received a call and some text messages this morning that the boot was locked and the employees of the school were unable to enter. Usually, we have twenty-four hours in security services or watchmen on duty. And when my employees tried to get in the compound this morning as early as seven o’clock, they were not able to come. And so that sent an alarm when they were healing for the watchman on duty, and there was no response. So what happened was that they looked around the boot area and they noted that on one of the window blinds there were a bullet, there was a bullet hole or more than one. And that called, them to action. And so eventually my office assistant jumped the fence and came on the compound. We had to get a hammer to open the door so that they could enter to see what had happened. And they found him in there lying down.”
The murder comes just a few hours after the enactment of Belize’s second state of emergency this year. However, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams maintains that this crime was not committed in relation to the recent surge in gang activity, but rather, it stemmed from a personal issue.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“From what we have been made to understand is that there may have been some issue. Between the security guard and another individual, which is not gang related, because I already see some comments stating that, oh, we have S.O.E. and this is happening, but the murder is not gang related. And the police have obtained surveillance footage from the school. We’re viewing those footages now and hopefully we’ll be able to identify who the individual is and should be able to make an arrest.”
Martin says that the employee’s death shocked and saddened her. Babb had been working at the school for three years and she didn’t know him to get into serious conflicts with anyone.
Debroah Martin
“He started in 2021 and he’s friendly, outgoing. You will know that he’s on the compound when he’s here. Always helpful. Knows how to put smile on your face. That’s the kind of person. I know he’s outspoken, so he will stand up for anybody, to anybody who comes his way or stand up for anybody that he thinks that somebody is taking advantage of. So I don’t know of any issue with anybody, but I know he’s somebody that is going to stand up for himself and for others. I don’t know of any previous issue with him and anybody that may have resulted in this.”
In reaction to Babb’s death, community members have expressed frustration that the murder occurred relatively close to a police station. ComPol Williams says that despite this, there was no way for the officers stationed there to know that the crime was going to occur.
Chester Williams
“It’s not a stone’s throw away from the police station, as some media hosts have reported. It is still quite a distance from the police station. And yes, as I said before, we do have police officers in the Martin’s area working, but the police officers have to move around. They cannot stay in one given area, and criminals will take advantage of whatever opportunity they may have. And the fact that it was not, it is not something gang motivated. You have an issue with somebody, you go after the person where the person works. I don’t see how it is going to be possible for the police to be able to deter that from happening, unless the police would have had prior knowledge that there was some issue between him and this individual and this person would have been going after him to do him something.”
Williams further countered speculation that the murder was in connection to a shooting that occurred on Sunday that led to the injury of Joshua Gillett and the death of Stanley Moore.
Chester Williams
“I wouldn’t say it’s the same location. It may be the same street, but quite a distance away. The Sadie Vernon High School is a little way up more into that street.”
Reporter
“No chance that he was a witness or I’m asking, might he have been a witness?”
Chester Williams
“No.”
Williams said that although there has been an increase in violent crimes, the police have been working diligently towards making an arrest and ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Chester Williams
“I must say that the past the last three murders we have had we have made arresting all three of them. And it goes to show again that the police is doing as best as we can to be able to investigate these murders and find the persons responsible and make sure they face the court system. I have no doubt that with this one, the same is going to be done.”
