We start tonight’s newscast with the latest on the two men charged with the murders of Adelita Gillett and Felix Martinez. The couple from Burrell Boom was tragically found shot dead inside an SUV parked along the Philip Goldson Highway on Monday evening. Today, the accused men, car dealer Jovannie Jones and driver Jerwin Segura, were arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court. We’ll bring you all the details from the courtroom, but first, let’s hear from Commissioner of Police Chester Williams. He shares insights into the men’s detention and the motive behind the killings. Additionally, the father of one of the accused, Jerwin Segura, speaks about raising his son as a church-going individual. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story.
Jovannie Jones and Jerwin Segura faced the Magistrate’s Court, charged with the brutal murders of Burrell Boom residents Adelita Gillett and Felix Martinez. The shocking double murder, which took place on Monday evening, is believed to have stemmed from a botched vehicle sale. According to police, the victims had paid Jones, a car dealer, for a vehicle back in October, but never received it. Authorities suspect that Jones and Segura lured the victims to the location where they were tragically killed. Both men were arraigned on two counts of murder each. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams provided the media with details about the investigation and the arrests. Confident in their evidence, the police are hopeful for convictions. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams shared with reporters today that Jovannie Jones and Jerwin Segura were apprehended right at the crime scene on the very evening of the tragic double murder.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Police responded to calls of shots fired on the Philip Goldson Highway, about a quarter mile from its junction with the Crooked Tree Road. Upon arrival, they saw a black Equinox. Inside the Equinox, which was parked on the, I think, the right hand side of the road coming to Belize City, they discovered the lifeless body of two persons, that is, a male and a female. Those two bodies exhibited what appeared to be gunshot injuries. The police processed the scene. After doing so, the bodies were taken to the KHMH, where the doctor pronounced them dead on arrival. Police conducted investigations right away. And a few minutes later, two suspects were detained in a vehicle that was seen parked right behind the vehicle that the two deceased persons were in at the particular time or immediately after the shooting or immediately after the persons were found in the vehicle dead.”
Williams said that investigators obtained other evidence that led to their arrest for the crime.
“Other evidential material obtained by investigators during the course of the investigation led to the arrest of two individuals, one of whom is a car dealer and the other is an associate of that car dealer. Those persons were charged yesterday, and I believe they were taken before the courts today where they were remanded to prison. The family will be given an update by the police tomorrow so that they can know exactly what the police have against those two individuals. There are several other things that we’re doing, like looking at the phones and the analysis of calls and different things that we’ll be getting information from the cell phones and other places that we believe we can get evidential, things of evidential value.”
“These are the same two individuals that were found in the vehicle that was parked at some point in time behind the vehicle of the victims?”
Chester Williams
“Yes, those same two individuals.”
Commissioner Williams assured the public that the police are committed to gathering all necessary evidence to secure convictions against the accused men. But who exactly are these men? Selvin Segura, father of Jerwin Segura, insists that he raised his son to be a God-fearing individual, always guiding him to follow the straight and narrow path.
Selvin Segura, Father of Jerwin Segura
“I nuh raise up my son fi be wa cruel person or violent or soh, right. All I know that we raise up on, you know, to go to school, you know, to be loving with neighbours and everybody and thing, you know, go to school, go to church, go to church and things like that.”
Segura said his son told him he was going to drive for Jones, who also grew up in the church.
“He tell me that the same church brother di teach him to drive, Giovannie, yeah, teaching him to drive, and thing soh, he say I wa become a driver sooner or later. So I told him all the best, you know, just know what you’re doing and – cause he’s a big man now and things like that. You know, he’s over eighteen.”
On the day of the incident, Jerwin Segura reportedly left home early in the morning. According to his father, when his wife heard about an incident on the road, she reached out to their son. Jerwin told her he was on his way back from Orange Walk and had been delayed by a traffic block.
“He went out early in the morning, right, and when the ma called and asked where is he, he said he was coming down on the road from northbound, somewhere on the road. So, ih mother told him there’s an accident or something on the road because they have police on the road doing checkpoint and some kind of accident or something happened. And then he replied and said we are way up in Orange Walk. He said we heading down this way now. We coming home, right. So, when he hit the checkpoint, he ma call again and he answer he say, yes, we are at the checkpoint. And when he replied, he said they were pulling over somebody and, well, he coming because he said the police, they give him okay to come, noh?
Later, Segura shared that they discovered through online reports that the incident wasn’t just an accident, but a shocking double murder. To their horror, they realized the victims were from their own village. Jovannie Jones, the other man charged in the double murder case, is also from Burrell Boom. Although no one was willing to speak on the record about his character, he’s known as an upstanding community member who grew up in the church. Before venturing into the car dealership business, Jones spent some time working in the tourism industry. Marion Ali for News Five.
