Tag: 2025-05-23

Tonight, a tragic story out of the Belize Central Prison is raising serious questions about how the justice system handles individuals with mental health challenges. Twenty-six-year-old Tyreick Rodriguez, a well-known mental health patient, was sentenced to one week in prison, not for a violent crime, but for riding a bicycle without a headlamp. He was later remanded after being found with just point-three grams of suspected cocaine. Rodriguez arrived at the Kolbe Foundation on Monday. By Thursday, he was found dead inside his cell, having taken his own life. His death has left many in shock and angered members of the public, who are now asking: Why was a mentally ill man sent to prison instead of being placed in a mental health facility? We reached out to Virgilio Murillo, C.E.O. of the Kolbe Foundation, to learn more about the circumstances surrounding Rodriguez’s death. Here’s what he had to say.

 

On the Phone: Virgillo Murillo, C.E.O, Kolbe Foundation

“He was admitted into prison on the nineteenth, which is Monday gone. He had a conviction of one week for riding a bicycle without a headlamp. And he was remanded on a charge of possession of a controlled drug. So, it would indicate that because today the police would not arrest you for small quantities of marijuana, below ten grams, because it has been decriminalized. Thos are the charges he came into prison with. He was admitted on the nineteenth and by the twenty-second before we even got a chance to familiarize ourselves with him, he took his own life unfortunately.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What was the conditions that he was subjected to at the prison?”

 

On the Phone: Virgillo Murillo

“Well, he was a mentally challenged prisoner and was placed in a psychiatric cell. That is the only condition we can subject a mentally challenged person to. He was being observed, because this is the first time he was in prison. Maybe he had been arrested before, but this is the first time he came to the facility.”

The family of Tyreick Rodriguez is speaking out, questioning why police arrested him in the first place, just for riding a bicycle without a headlamp, when his mental health condition was already well known. His uncle, Clinton Rodriguez, told News Five that he believes both the police and the courts could have handled the situation differently. He pointed to the recent case of Allaire McDougal, another mentally ill person who was detained, saying these incidents show a troubling pattern. “This could have happened to anyone struggling with mental illness”, Clinton said. “Someone needs to be held accountable.” The family is now calling for answers, and for change.

 

On the Phone:  Clinton Rodriquez, Relative of Deceased

“I understand that he was arrested for riding a bicycle without bell and light and eventually he was charged for that. I believe that most people around where he live, including members of the police force know that he has a mental issue. I am curious how nobody figured he had a mental issue in the first place for them to charge him. In any case, he ended up being charged a thirty dollar fine he couldn’t pay and he ended up in prison. I think from the police side they should have been able to tell he had a mental issue and even when we went in front of the judge somebody should have figured out by just talking to him that he has a mental issue. because it does not take two seconds before he goes off on a tangent of something else. At the same time we are just trying to understand what is happening and hopefully somebody can explain because this can happen to anybody and the way society dealt with his situation, I heard in the news about the other lady that they were dealing with her in a similar fashion, it is something our society needs to pay attention to, especially the leaders and the justice system.”