Infant Orphaned After Murder-Suicide Tragedy

In the span of just a few days, a series of tragedies have befallen the quiet village of Libertad. On Saturday, March second, Breeann Kyle, a forty-one year old American resident residing in Libertad, Corozal, was found dead inside her home next to her ten-month-old daughter, who, fortunately, was uninjured. Kyle’s husband, twenty-year-old Jaquan Smith, had informed the police of his wife’s death while he was receiving treatment at a hospital for injuries suffered in a car crash. Smith was detained pending questioning in the alleged murder of his wife, but would later be found dead in his cell after seemingly committing suicide. News Five’s Britney Gordon Reports.

 

Britney Gordon, reporting

Residents of Libertad are left in a state of shock after several devastating incidents occurred in succession within just three days. On Saturday, March second, police responded to the reports of a road traffic accident between mile seventy-four and seventy-five of the Philip Goldson Highway. When police arrived at the Corozal Community Hospital where twenty-year-old Jaquan Smith was receiving treatment for his injuries, he revealed that his wife had been murdered in their shared home in Libertad. The body was discovered by an Orange Walk taxi driver who had been contacted by Kyle’s parents to investigate the scene on their behalf. There, he found forty-one year old Breeann Kyle, deceased on her couch with multiple stab wounds. Also in the house was Kyle and Smith’s infant child, unharmed, aside from being left unattended to. According to residents of the neighborhood, the couple had recently moved in after Kyle’s father, Leo Kyle, purchased the house.

 

Pedro Teck, Neighbor

“I don’t know them by name. I just saw them one day when I came from Belize. I saw who was the person who bought the house. From John Nelson, from my boss. He owned it, but he sold it to Mister Leo. The last owner who they said they killed his daughter.”

 

Britney Gordon

“So how long has mister Leo’s family been living in there?”

 

Pedro Teck

“Oh, they just came down from the States, I would say about two months, not so long.”

 

According to Teck, the couple was unfamiliar to most of the villagers; since they had recently relocated to Libertad and that the house was a short distance from their nearest neighbors.

 

 

 

 

Britney Gordon

“Are they, integrated into the village? Do people know them well?”

 

Pedro Teck

“No, no, no, not no much. Only one guy know him, the guy that do mechanic work for them, the guy to the back there. So he’s the one who  when mister Leo heard that they killed his daughter, he called the guy and told him to take care of the baby while he comes back from  the States.”

 

 

 

Upon hearing the news, Kyle’s father flew to Belize on Sunday, but would receive more unfortunate news, as the suspected murderer was found dead in his prison cell this morning at the Corozal Police station. According to Police Commissioner, Chester Williams, Smith died by hanging himself.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“We had an incident in Corozal where a young American fellow was accused of killing his wife. He was eventually intercepted by the police at a traffic accident scene in Corozal and taken into custody.  This morning the police went to clean a cell. He was in a cell, black, alive and well, and the police left to retrieve the prisoner’s food and returned about 10 minutes later. Upon return, They found him hanging in the cell by his pants, with his pants. So, he took off his long pants that he was wearing and hung himself. So, he is now deceased.”

 

 

Williams stated that the police overseeing Smith’s detainment had carried out their duties correctly and that the situation was an unfortunate incident.

 

Chester Williams

“Very unfortunate situation. I know that some might want to say the police could have done more, but the police would normally do cell block checks, like, every half an hour. And if they had just cleaned the cell and ten minutes returned with food to feed the man, I couldn’t, I would not be able to see where the police would have faltered in that situation. It’s an unfortunate situation, but again, we have to deal with that.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.