Friends Murdered While Hanging Out  

On Tuesday night, residents of the North Creek area of Belize City were stunned when six gunshots interrupted the quiet of the night. Little did they know that their community was the scene of the country’s second double murder for the month of May. The first was in Roaring Creek on May fifth. It was well before eight o’clock when a pair of men on a motorcycle drove up to where two friends were sitting on a bench near a basketball court on North Creek. One of the attackers got off the bike and walked through the entrance of a yard to where the unsuspecting men sat. He opened fire on them and got back on the bike and sped off. One of the victims died at the scene, while the other died on the way to the K.H.M.H. Police say the attack may have been the result of a fight earlier on Tuesday. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Twenty-year-old Marvin Pook and thirty-year-old Anthony Young were lifelong friends who hung out every night in the North Creek neighborhood. On Tuesday, the pair was executed. They were sitting here on this bench facing a basketball court when they were ambushed. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hilberto Romero shared what investigators have gathered so far.

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“On Tuesday the 14th of May, 2024, around 7:39 p.m., police responded to a shooting incident at North Creek, Belize City. Upon their arrival, they found two persons with gunshot injuries. The persons were immediately rushed to the KHMH for treatment but they succumbed shortly thereafter. Information is that they were sitting on a chair near the basketball court when a motorcycle arrived with two persons. One of the persons got off the motorcycle and came close to them and fired several shots towards their direction, causing their fatal injuries.”

 

A resident told News Five that he was at home watching TV when he heard about six shots.  When he looked outside, he saw a commotion and people trying to help the wounded men. Pook’s grandmother, Sherlette Lamb, said that her grandson visited the court every night because his girlfriend lives at a house nearby.

 

Sherlette Lamb, Grandmother of Marvin Pook

“He normally goes there because his girlfriend family is there. And that’s the reason why he go over there. Literally, my grandson was not a person that affiliated any gang or he was not a person that being in the street or a member of police to be said like being a problem like things like that. He’s not a person like that. I have no idea that I would have even heard when I pick up the phone from my daughter that if I heard Marvin got shut up. That was so devastating for me. It happened, I said, drink some water, pray, and let’s see what’s work out. Unfortunately, I got the sad news he didn’t made it because he died on the spot.”

 

 

According to A.C.P Romero, the likely motive for the deadly attack may have been a fight that happened earlier in the day.  Police have since detained several persons for questioning. Romero said that Pook and Young were the only two persons sitting on the bench at the time, but that investigators are not sure whether they were the actual targets.

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“Only two of them were sitting there at the time.

 

Reporter

“So it was likely that one of them or both of them were the intended target?

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“We are not certain if they were the intended target, but they were the only two persons there at the time of the shooting. The information we have got so far, there was a fight yesterday involving these persons and that is information we’re getting: somebody came after them. We are reviewing video footage and later on we will know exactly what this fight was all about and who were the persons involved.”

 

But the alleged fight involving the pair of friends is news to the family and Sherlette Lamb maintains that her grandson was not a troublemaker.

 

Sherlette Lamb

“He has not been in problems with people. He’s not a person like to say, go and create problems with nobody. We always raise him in a great manner for said Marvin, you know what happened, you are a boy, you have to raise up the right way. Keep your head up, do the right thing, and that’s what my grandson was doing.”

 

ACP Romero says that both victims are known to police. Pook’s grandmother says that he was arrested only once for a common assault that he was eventually acquitted of. Anthony Young had no known relative in Belize City.  Marion Ali for News Five.