A man was murdered in Belize City on Thursday evening. He has been identified as Alfredo Enrique Rodriquez David. According to Police, a couple that went fishing discovered David’s lifeless body face down at the edge of the seaside in an area near the Port of Belize. When the police arrived at the scene, they discovered a bicycle, a bucket with some fish inside and a brown school bag, all on the edge of the seashore. About one hundred yards away from the items, through a mangrove trail, police discovered David’s lifeless body with multiple gunshot injuries. Several expended shells were retrieved from the scene. We spoke to a relative of David. Here is what she told us that the family last saw him around eight-thirty on Thursday morning.
Voice of: Shantel Serrano
Voice of: Shantel Serrano, Relative of Deceased
“His wife was already concerned form after eleven, because he told his wife he was going to be returning home before lunch. But to her knowledge, or what she though, was that when he was having a good day he would stay out and continue having a good day. So she was saying her husband is probably catching a lot fish. He is being successful so he is trying to finish the day. She became concerned a little after six when it got dark and he did not return. When she was talking to me, because I came home from work around after four. She was talking to me and she was concerned about him not return. So I told her relax she must have gone to visit someone or whatever the case may be. But she was very fidgety, up and down, could not sit down and I was wondering why. She was really worried so I told her just relax, if a certain time come she will reach. We saw Love News posted they found a body and the description was exactly the way he left home. As she saw that she came running up the stairs to tell me. When I went and saw the post, I don’t know how I skipped that, I was just looking at the details so I didn’t realize that until when we came to the police station and that is what they told us and we were like what, shot? My thing was when they found the body I thought because of the sting he got maybe he caught cramp, maybe he drown. But when we realize it is a police case then we wondered why and that is when we found out it was a shot. Why, why when Louis was someone if Louis doesn’t know you he would pass and speak to you. Louis speaks very English very few, he speaks mostly Spanish. He is a Honduran he doesn’t mingle a lot and he is a life of the party when it comes to cultural. Drumming’s he was there, but he is not a person that had a problem with anybody. Louis has been in Belize for many years, and you could ask the police they have never had to pick up Louis for no reason.”
The lifeless body of sixty-one-year-old Gilbert Flowers was found floating off Deadman Caye on Tuesday. Flowers, a former resident of Mullins River Village, who moved to Belize City a few years ago, spent most of his days at sea as a fisherman. Last week, he and two other men travelled to the area to prepare their gears ahead of the opening of the lobster season. Flowers, however, went missing on Saturday under what his family is describing as mysterious circumstances. His body was not found until three days later in a mangrove area not too far from where he was staying. Flowers’ relatives are tonight seeking answers as they wait for a postmortem to be concluded on his body. We spoke with his nephew, Albert Magdaleno who told us that reports of his uncle’s death came as a shock to them.
Albert Magdaleno
Albert Magdaleno, Nephew of Deceased
“At this moment everything is still mystery because for the past three to four years he has been working out at sea. He used to regularly send fish for me, so I get my fish supplies and I am telling you, big snapper, the man handle me. But this week, I think it was Monday or Tuesday, one of his co-worker friends called me and said boy I have bad news for you. They found your uncle floating up in the sea dead. I asked how, because he is a man known to the seas. He is originally from Mullins River, came to live in Belize City. When he came to live in Belize City he use to work on those boats where they go and dig sand from Robinson point and brought it to sell. So, sea and working on the seas dah nothing new for him. So to hear he drowned is like what. So, we are still trying to gather information. All we know is that the Coast Guard found his body somewhere out on Turneffe and then they brought in his body and took it to Burrel Boom for postmortem. I don’t know if it happened as yet. But from that point, we don’t know anything else.”
Paul Lopez
“From your knowledge, was there a period where he was missing?”
Albert Magdaleno
“For about three days until they made it publicly known that the was missing and then they called in the coast guard and the gentle men that were out there assisted to help find his body.”
Paul Lopez
“Do you know if anybody else was out there?”
Albert Magdaleno
“From what I heard, him and two other guys, cause they do lobster traps for cray fish, and so they have to prep the traps. It is only three of them that was supposed to be on the island. But I know his friend is very upset because he suspect that something went adrift, it is not normal.”
An alleged gunman also appeared before Justice Candace Nanton today where the Crown closed its case in a trial for attempted murder. Kareem Franklin is accused of trying to kill a pair of police officers during a drive-by shooting that took place on Mahogany Street in March 2016. Despite being caught on surveillance footage with a firearm in his hands, Franklin denies that he was ever on the scene and fired shots at the officers. Franklin is on trial for the attempted murder of P.C. Stephen Choco and Joseph Sutherland. It is alleged that the policemen were on motorcycle patrol on Mahogany Street when they came across Franklin who was also a passenger on a motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle was signaled to pull over. Instead of doing so, the driver sped off and a pursuit ensued. That’s when Franklin reportedly produced a handgun and opened fire in the direction of the officers. Franklin claims that on the day of the incident, he was at home and around one o’clock that afternoon, he went over to a football field where his mother was watching him play football. He says that’s when they heard the gunshots. Kareem Franklin is being represented by attorney Ronnel Gonzalez. Franklin is on remand at the Belize Central Prison.
A retired police sergeant has been convicted of the rape of a child and sexual assault and tonight he is on remand at the Belize Central Prison until he is sentenced on July sixteenth. Earlier today in the High Court of Justice Candace Nanton, the sixty-six-year-old former officer was found guilty of molesting and raping his seven-year-old stepdaughter. The crown was able to prove the charges during the testimony of the child with corroborating evidence from the little girl’s mother, as well as a teacher whom she confided in. The minor, who testified in camera, told the court that sometime between October fifth and December seventeenth, 2021, her stepfather raped her. A few months later, in April 2022, he molested her. Justice Nanton, in finding the stepfather guilty, concluded that the testimonies of the child, her mother and teacher only strengthened the prosecution’s case. The retired policeman denied the allegations and told the court that the entire story was fabricated. Ahead of his sentencing, a victim impact assessment, as well as a social inquiry report and psychiatric evaluation have been ordered.
On Thursday morning, four armed thieves made their way onto the Stake Bank compound near mile five on the George Price Highway. While on the property, the men assaulted a pair of security guards before making off with a white and black Columbian vessel that was docked in a nearby canal. Earlier today, the Belize Police Department reported that the thirty-two foot boat has been recovered, however, both two hundred horsepower Yamaha outboard engines are missing. Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of the engines are asked to contact Crime Stoppers Belize with that information.
A team of workmen contracted by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing has begun the painstaking process of dismantling the old Haulover Bridge. The structure was built in the 1940’s and straddles the mouth of the Belize River. Since it has been replaced by a modern bridge that was inaugurated a few weeks ago, the plan is to take down the existing structure and relocate certain sections to other parts of the country, including Cayo District. Chief Engineer Evondale Moody explains.
Evondale Moody
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, M.I.D.H.
“We decided, let’s see if we could salvage this structure and use it somewhere that could be beneficial to the public and so we thought that using it in Santa Familia would be an ideal location because the river span is not that long. And so, we’re only using two sections of the Haulover Bridge at that location. We expect to use the third section in Camalote where they have a road going to the A.T.M. Caves. There’s a small wooden bridge structure there. So once we could garner funds later this year, we expect that we would use that last section for the A.T.M. Caves.”
Today the Ministry of Blue Economy held its second Climate Resilience Fair. It followed the Climate Resilience Forum on Thursday, and is a testament of the efforts of everyone, including the N.G.O. community, who have contributed to ensuring that Belize is more climate-resilient than it was in previous years. The fair also precedes World Oceans Day on Saturday, a day set aside globally to bring awareness to the important role the world’s oceans plays in life on the planet. News Five stopped in at the fair and spoke with a few of the people that made the event possible. Here’s that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The impact of climate change on the Earth has prompted countries to introduce measures that people can follow to slow down the process and, at best, reverse those impacts. Felicia Cruz, the Director of Blue Economy, says that the planet’s waterways have suffered immensely, not only from climate-related activity, but from human behaviour as well.
Felicia Cruz
Felicia Cruz, Director, Blue Economy
“Our seas, of course, have been faced with unprecedented challenges, as you mentioned: climate change, over-fishing, pollution – it’s a combination of many factors that have affected our fishing sector. But at the end of the day, our government remains adamant in ensuring that we sensitize the people and that we also enforce the laws of Belize.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society has been actively engaging fishing and farming communities in methods to not only adopt, but to adjust those behavioural patterns that have helped to damage our planet. Communications Coordinator, Deseree Arzu says the focus is to help these communities develop their first-ever climate action and management plan.
Deseree Arzu
Deseree Arzu, Communications Coordinator, Wildlife Conservation Society Belize Program
“We’re working in three communities in Belize of the M.F.C, of course, you’ve done the storytelling competition that we’ve had in the Maya Forest Corridor. So we’re working there to restore forests. We’re also working at Glover’s Reef, which is at Middle Key where we have our research station. And we’re working with Saltwater Key Marine Reserve as well, which Saltwater and Glovers are two of the areas where W.C.S. does a lot of research work. So we’re promoting nature based solutions in order to address climate change.”
Marion Ali
“What message are you taking to these same communities to let them know that listen – climate change – a big part of it has to do with human behavior, human activity. A lot of the health of the environment has to do with what we do with the environment?”
Deseree Arzu
“Small things we can do like we keep saying this, but the more we repeat it I believe hopefully it sticks with people. Things like turning off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth not throwing garbage on the in the environment and putting it in a bag until it reaches somewhere to place it in a secure location.”
Founded in 1987, the Hol Chan Marine Reserve is the first established marine reserve in Belize. Its responsibilities include monitoring and managing the reserve and working on projects such as the sea turtle nesting program in Ambergris Caye. Executive Secretary, Vicky Coc told us that visitors to Hol Chan follow the rules and regulations in keeping it as healthy as possible, for the most part.
Vicky Coc
Vicky Coc, Executive Secretary, Hol Chan Marine Reserve
“The people in San Pedro, we do care about our reef. As long as we keep working with them, we keep educating them and sharing with them about the do’s and don’ts, then we have a very positive community feedback. They actually respect, you know, our rules and regulations at the reserve. We also have our operations and enforcement team that is out at the reserve 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can say that our guides and guests are very cooperative when it comes to that.”
Today’s climate-resilience fair was held a day before World Oceans Day on Saturday. Marion Ali for News Five.
Earlier this week, the Forest Department had to remove a jaguar from the Sittee River area where the animal had started to feed on someone’s poultry. The department went in, tranquilized the jaguar and relocated it to a reserve further away from the residential area. Today, Deputy Chief Forest Officer, John Pinelo told News Five that the department doesn’t like to refer to these jaguars as predators because oftentimes it is humans who encroach on their habitats and then complain when the big cats feed on their farm animals.
John Pinelo
John Pinelo, Deputy Chief Forest Officer, Forest Department
“The animal is doing what it’s doing naturally in its habitat. Oftentimes, we’re the ones who go into its habitat and take over the area. And then when the animal starts giving problems, then we start complaining. So we don’t like to classify it as a predator. I prefer to call it a flagship species because the jaguar is an indication of how healthy all forests are. If you have jaguars, that means everything else below the food chain is working well. So, that’s the first situation. From time to time we have human-jaguar interaction or human and puma or mountain lion or red tiger – as they call it – interactions and that is where then the public should get in touch with the Forest Department, to voice their complaint so that we can then send in our unit to do an assessment. There are a series of activities that we can potentially conduct. Initially, we tend to put up cameras to make sure that it is a jaguar. A lot of times we get complaints from people that jaguars are killing their livestock. And when you find out it’s actually coyotes, because we do now have coyotes in Belize. Obviously we don’t work on the weekends, but we have a Facebook, Forest Department page of which our staff manages and monitors that page, so you can message us and give us the information and then we will tell you when we can react. Our team reacts pretty fast. We don’t always do what people expect we will do, which is either shoot them or capture them because sometimes the animal is just passing through. If you live in the animal’s environment and he steals a chicken from you or something like, that is part of the natural process of things. Like I said, remember, we’re the ones moving into their environment. But if there is serious livestock loss, or a threat to human lives, then we will take matters into our hands to try and decide whether we move the animal.”
It is next to impossible for children to learn while they are sitting in class on an empty stomach. For some students at Saint John’s Anglican Primary School in Belize City, it’s an everyday reality. While the school attempted to assist these students through a feeding program, many were still unable to afford it. Today, that problem is no more, after a former student and entrepreneur offered to sponsor the program and renovate the school’s kitchen. News Five’s Britney Gordon attended a ceremony where the big reveal was made. Here’s that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
At St. John’s Anglican Primary School in Belize City, there are currently one hundred and seventeen students enrolled. It’s an insignificant number at first glance, until you realize that forty-two percent of the student body finds it difficult to acquire three meals a day. Darlene Belgrave, principal of St. John’s Anglican, told us that it is important that the needs of students in small schools such as these, aren’t overlooked.
Darlene Belgrave
Darlene Belgrave, Principal
“You said it right. the smaller the school, the more it struggles, especially from the area where they come from, many of our parents don’t have a job and it’s hard for them to find school fees for their children, find food. And so, um, I do glad when I reach out to the community and they would come and collaborate and give us back.”
The school attempted to address this problem through a feeding program. For just three dollars, students were provided lunch. But even at this low cost, nearly half of the students enrolled in the program could not afford to pay. It was from this heartbreaking discovery that former student and teacher, Stephanie Crawford realized that she had to step in.
Stephanie Crawford
Stephanie Crawford, Belizean Entrepreneur
“This school is a school that has my heart. I used to attend this school when I was a little girl. I completed my bachelor’s at the University of Belize, and I came back to teach here for a period of three months. And that’s where I saw the need of the children. A few children didn’t have food. food to eat. And it started as young as age five. And you know, that’s something that real estate on my heart. I said, as soon as I’m in a position to be able to donate, I will donate.”
Just under two years ago, Crawford launched Face and Body Painting BZ. The business has taken off well throughout the country. It is through this success that she was able to partner with Caribe Blue casino to renovate St. John’s Anglican School’s kitchen and sponsor the feeding program for an entire year. The renovations were completed on Thursday and so a small ceremony was held this morning to commemorate the occasion.
Stephanie Crawford
“So today we refurbished the kitchen and we’re reopening it. And we’re also starting a new feeding program. They had a feeding program here before, but the children had to pay 3 in order to enroll in a feeding program. And some children could not meet that amount, even though the school tried their best. So we’re going to make the feed in program free for one year. It’s like a pilot program, and we’ll see how well this goes. And if it goes well, we’re going to see how long we can continue this program.”
The renovated kitchen was repainted, equipped with a brand-new stove, and a fan to keep it cool while in use. The ceremony held this morning was to reveal the new kitchen to the students, but also to surprise Belgrave, who had no idea about the sponsored feeding program Crawford planned to implement.
Darlene Belgrave
“Wow. I did not know, that was a surprise. And so thank you, miss Steph. Our children would really appreciate that. Because many of the times they don’t come to school because of a meal that they cannot get. I’m very grateful for her.”
The team will be doing its best to provide hearty and healthy meals for the children. Crawford says that if this first round goes well, it will be extended to providing breakfast as well.
Stephanie Crawford
“So we’re going to be preparing a menu. However, the menu so far has things like rice and beans, a mixture of hot dogs spaghetti. We’re adding a lot of fruits and vegetables as well for the program that we’re starting is only going to be lunch. But depending on how well it goes, we will be looking into providing breakfast and lunch, you know, breakfast will be a whole meal, such as such as maybe avocados, toast, bread, a little bit of fruit and, you know, some fruit juice for them to drink early in the morning.”
The bond between the former student and principal has only grown with time, as Belgrave says that she considered Crawford a friend. She explains that she endeavors to impart a spirit of kindness and friendship in all her students so that they may grow up to be good citizens and give back to their communities.
Darlene Belgrave
“I was sharing with my student, one of my motto was in friendship we meet, in friendship we part. When Steph was a student, she was an a plus student. And as a teacher when she came back, I treated her as an adult. I did not be her boss, I was like a friend to her, and so I shared with them that when you be good to people, in return they will come back and do the same thing. I always ask them that one of our goals as a teacher is not the million dollars that we make or a thousand dollars, but doing good, seeing your student contribute positively to society, and especially when they come back and give to the place that they got their educational foundation. So it is a joy for me.”
Belize’s National Under-Eighteen Basketball team fell short of its goal to become one of the top four teams in FIBA’s Americup 2024. A place in the top four would have secured Belize’s ticket to FIBA’s Under-Nineteen World Cup 2025 in Switzerland. After losing three of four group games earlier this week, Belize faced off against the Dominican Republic, the number one ranked team in their group. And it almost went down to the wire. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
It was team Belize’s last chance to qualify for FIBA’s Under-Nineteen World Cup in Switzerland next year. After Wednesday night’s upset against host country Argentina, team Belize played against the Dominican Republic this afternoon. The winning team secured a spot in the 2025 FIBA World Cup. Early in the first quarter, the Dominican Republic led by eight points, following this jump shot from Wilmer De La Rosa. Belize finally got on the scoreboard with two free throws from Josiah Moseley. Just under two minutes left in the first quarter. Moseley had two defenders on him, he spun around, jumped and made the two. The first quarter ended with Belize trailing by one point.
In the second quarter, Belize took an early lead. Moseley at the three-point line extended that lead to five points. Adrian Brito cleaned up under the rim for the Dominican Republic and they regained the lead. The Dominican Republic was up when Moseley found his way through their defense and got to the rim to cut down the lead. Just over a minute on the clock in the second quarter, De La Santos from the three-point line brought the DR to thirty-four points. The half ended at thirty-four a piece after this huge effort from Wilford Dawson.
The Dominican Republic went on a seven nothing run early in the third. Dawson broke that run with a smooth two-point jump shot. With just under three minutes left in the third, team Belize was only trailing by two points when Felix Jorge caught a three-point to extend his team’s lead. But the game was not ever for team Belize. They fought to keep this one within range. Eighteen seconds left on the clock and Dawson again, this time tying the game at fifty-four points to end the third quarter.
The fourth quarter decided this one. A minute and a half into the fourth with Belize up by one point, Moseley points it up over two defenders and extends Belize’s lead to three points. The opportunity to make an appearance in FIBA’s 2025 U-19 World Cup quickly began to slip out of the hands of team Belize in the final five minutes of this one. De La Rosa drives, makes a big pass under rim and extended their lead to nine points. `The DR’s lead was at eleven points when Parham came up with the steal and sprinted down the other end to bank a three-point shot. Unfortunately, it would not be enough to overcome the DR’s late fourth quarter run. Dominican Republic’s won the match seventy-nine points to sixty-nine points. Belize plays over the weekend for the fifth to eight positions in the Americup.
