Corozal Man Executed Inside Park in Front of Family and Friends  

The quiet of Patchakan Village in the Corozal District was rattled by the sound of gunshots on Thursday night. When the dust settled, twenty-eight-year-old Benito Canela lay dead in front of his common-law-wife Indy Ruiz and a group of neighbors. They were all socializing inside a park at the entrance of the village just before nine o’clock when a gunman attacked. Canela is said to be a respected person in his community, known and loved by everyone there. So, what was the motive behind his murder? Who wanted him dead, and is his execution related to the increased presence of cartel elements from neighboring Chetumal? News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled to Patchakan Village today to find out more about the gruesome murder of Canela. Here is that report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

A father of two was executed on Thursday night in Patchakan Village while socializing with a group of family and friends. Twenty-eight-year-old Benito Canela and his partner Indy Cruz were sitting in a park next to their home when a gunman targeted him. Cruz says they sat in the park almost every night after having dinner.

 

Indy Ruiz, Common Law of Deceased

“I asked him where he was going and he said he is going to call his daughter because it was her birthday. And so he said lets go so you can tell her happy birthday as well. I went with him and we sat down there he took out his phone to call his daughter and she wasn’t answering. I told him it’s Thursday and on thursdays they go to church. He hung up and gave me his phone and also told me to hold onto the key for the motorcycle because he doesn’t like holding onto things he always gives them to me. And so we were talking and he was hugging me and then our neighbor came over. She asked us what were we doing out here and I said we were just getting some fresh air, and so she sat with us. She was with her daughter walking with us when my mom called me and asked me to come and see the baby, I didn’t even take longer than five minutes and then I went back out with them.”

 

Ruiz and Canela had been seeing each other for just over a year. Together, they have four children. She says that when she got back from speaking with her mom, they continued talking and hanging out as they would normally do.  That is when a man wearing a mask to conceal his identity approached them.

 

Indy Ruiz

“One of my cousins were there with her two year old baby and we were all sitting, talking relaxing and there he was telling us jokes when a man come out from my father’s yard and he called him “Hey” where are you going? And he said he came to buy a volt, and so he told him that its bad for him. We then saw him leave and he was laughing and we were still there. Then all of a sudden we saw another person walking towards us but he was covered, all his head, he was covered and when this person arrived in front of us he lifted up his head and his face was also covered.”

 

She says, Canela sprang into action and pushed her away from him. That is when the gunman opened fire in Canela’s direction. The shooter had his weapon trained on Canela and no one else that was around at the time.

 

Indy Ruiz

“He saw it and he pushed me to his side and I fell that’s when I heard the shots. I yelled at him to get up but he was already on the ground and so I ran to where he was and the shots continued. I hugged him and not a single shot touched me only him. No one else only him. They only wanted him, and there he was lying on the ground. The police came quickly and when he rolled over to look at me he only opened his eyes as if he wanted to say something but I don’t know what he wanted to say. My little brother came and called him, brother-in-law and he tried to speak again but he started vomiting blood and there we stayed. He couldn’t anymore. He was shot more than nine times and there he was lying. Asking for help but we couldn’t do anything.”

 

According to Ruiz, Canela never told her that he had issues with anyone.She spent most of her time at home with the family. News Five understands that the shooter fled the scene in a white Ford Ranger pickup truck. Police retrieved ten nine-millimeter expended shells from the scene. A suspect is yet to be identified in this latest homicide. Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa was asked if Canela’s murder is related to the increased presence of cartel elements from neighboring Chetumal.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister, Home Affairs

“The preliminary information is that it’s not leading in that direction. But as you rightly mentioned with the very tense situation that is taking place in Chetumal at the moment, we cannot rule that as a motive, as a possible connection and so the police is looking at that angle as well but so far that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

 

Reporter

“Are you able to say whether or not that was related to the Arana murder? And Did you receive reports that mister Arana may have not been the intended target?”

 

 

Kareem Musa

“I have not received that report, no. And I cannot say at this point in time. We have not been briefed as yet as to whether there is a connection between the two.”

 

Reporter

“Do you know whether it was drug related in general?”

 

Kareem Musa

“Again, I cannot say at this very point. I’m sure as the day progresses, we’ll get more information.”

 

Indy Ruiz

“When he came here, he told me he was happy because he cut his cane and everything. But he didn’t have a problem with anyone here in the village. Here, everyone knows him as he is.”

 

Reporter

“Previously, he had a second family, that is, he had a family before he got together with you. Do you think it’s perhaps an act of jealousy?”

 

Indy Ruiz

“No, because, as far as I know, he has nothing to do with that family.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.