Family of Leonard Baltazar Demands Justice as Case Reopens

The family of 22-year-old Leonard Baltazar is once again urging the Belize Police Department to deliver justice following his death on December 11, 2024, near Reef’s End Lodge on Tobacco Caye. Initial reports claimed Baltazar died while fleeing after an alleged burglary attempt, but his family disputes that version, insisting he was restrained and killed.

His stepfather, Vince Higinio, questioned the self-defense claim: “Once a person is fleeing, the claim of self-defense goes out the window… your life is no longer in danger.”

The case has since been reopened, but Higinio says the family has received no updates. “We’ve been unable to talk to Corporal Depas or anyone else,” he said. He also pushed back against criticism of Leonard’s past: “We all made bad decisions when we were young. That doesn’t deserve a death sentence.”

The family continues to call for transparency and justice.