A life sentence has been handed down by Justice Candance Nanton in a murder case involving thirty-three-year-old Marlon Everett. He was convicted of murder in the shooting death of Albert Johnson which occurred in April 2018. In imposing the life sentence, Everett was informed that he will not be eligible for parole until he has served twenty-eight years in prison. Johnson was shot and killed while he was walking ahead of two other persons on Regent Street. According to the main witness, Everett was walking approximately six feet behind Johnson when he, the Crown’s witness, pushed his hand inside his pants, produced a firearm and handed it to Everett who crept up behind Johnson and fired two shots, fatally injuring him. Despite the murder being captured on surveillance footage, the identity of the shooter was not clear. A police officer was also called as a witness who testified to being able to identify the gunman as Everett, after recognizing him from the footage. Everett’s sentence takes effect retroactively, from April twenty-first, 2018.
Category: Featured
Man Charged for Manslaughter After Driving Drunk
Last night, we reported on the tragic passing of Kenrick Castillo, a forty-six-year-old Dangriga resident who died after a vehicle crashed into his home where he slept, causing the building to collapse on top of him. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Michael Logan who has since been arrested and charged for manslaughter and driving under the influence. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.
Britney Gordon, reporting
A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division
“Wednesday, thirty-first of January, 2024, around eleven-thirty p. m. Police responded to fatal accident on Saint Vincent Street, Dangriga. Upon arrival, they saw a Jeep Patriot vehicle extensively damaged. The driver was identified as Michael Logan, who reported he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into the part of a building in the area. At the time, a e mail person identified as Kenrick Castillo was inside that building and he was taken for medical treatment and he succumbed to his injuries. Michael Logan has since been arrested and charged for the crimes of manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct, a drove motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit, a drove motor vehicle without due care and attention.”
Reporter
“I know in America they have, I think Vehicular homicide that I know we don’t have here. But I guess you catch out to anything else. Mr. Castillo… was in his home, is there any other offense that can be put onto the factory? “
A.C.P. Hilberto Romero
“No. There is no other offense that he can be charged for. That is the maximum that can be done because it stems from a traffic accident.”
Britney Gordon for News Five.
PM Weighs in on Maya Land Tension in Toledo
Tensions have been high in Toledo District over G.O.B.’s draft Maya Land Tenure Policy. At the start of the week, we took you to Santa Elena Village and Punta Gorda Town where the Toledo Alcaldes Association, the Maya Leaders Alliance and the government’s consultation team were holding simultaneous public discussions. Several village leaders, from Maya communities across the south, have also released video statements rejecting the draft policy. One leader went as far as tearing up the document on camera. Today, reporters asked Prime Minister Briceño to weigh in on the tension in the Toledo.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I am very disappointed that that leader acted that way. It is so unbecoming of that leader and that leader was very shriddled and making all kinds of accusations that if he were to look at what the CCJ has done, the CCJ has praised our government for working forward. We already have the FPIC and we are going through the entire consultation from village to village extensively. Sometimes to the frustration of the Cabinet who may feel that this needs to come, you know there are so many issues to be addressed and that behavior will not bode well in building good will from both sides because you also have a lot of Belizeans, indigenous people that feels differently than what they believe. And so as a responsible government we have to find a compromise that works for everyone.”
Paul Lopez
“How do you interpret what they interpret as a restriction to the amount of lands that they would be able to apply for as customary lands?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“We have to come up with something that is workable. We can’t just tell them we will give them a blank check and tek what you want. Obviously that will not work. They might decide they want not only the Toledo District, but the Stann Creek District, who knows. It is important to be able to set some sort of parameters and within those parameters you negotiate. Having set parameters doesn’t mean it cannot be changed; it cannot be made larger or smaller. But something has to be set to start the discussion and I think Minister Dolores, I must commend her for the work that she has been doing, went through great pains to explain to the national assembly that these are not etched in stone. Let us see where in certain areas we may need to extend and bring it a bit smaller but it is also important wherever these villages want to claim a certain amount of land they would have to prove that it has been under customary use with the indigenous people.”
PM Says MLA/TAA Spoke Out of Turn
PM Briceño was also asked for his thoughts on the Maya Leaders Alliance’s actions in the south. Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, is on record saying that the MLA is riling up villagers unnecessarily. So, does the prime minister believe that the MLA and TAA enjoy the confidence of the majority of villagers in the forty-one Maya communities in Toledo? Here is what he told us.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“I don’t think that is necessarily true. It can be debated whether they represent the majority or not because there are a lot of indigenous people that say I want my land. SO as a government we have to make that delicate walk to walk with everybody. Minister Dolores has the full confidence of the Cabinet to be able to address these issues. She is doing a good job. I would have to step in if there was a crisis but there is not. There is constant dialogue and action being taken in good faith on both sides except this time when I think the leader really spoke out of turn.”
Reporter
“But in their press conference they said that they feel much disrespected that the minister didn’t go to meet them in Santa Elena. They said that they would find you guys in your office, go to you anywhere, even in Belmopan. Are you concerned that it might end up like caneros where they are blocking the highway?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well I can give them my address, it is number two Dunn Street, and they are welcome to Orange Walk to visit me anytime they want. But this is not how it works. Not because you say come to Santa Elena we have to come there, come on. We have been meeting regularly and why would you go into an area where you have a few hundred people that are not happy. You will go into a shouting match and that does not make sense. We need to be removed from that area where people will respond rationally.”