Murder in Mayflower: Did Sudden Riches Lead to Death of Carlton Moreira?

Carlton Moreira

A father of two was gunned down in Belize City around one-fifteen this afternoon in the middle of a gang-ridden neighborhood. But the authorities and his family don’t have a clear motive why because Carlton Moreira was a law-abiding citizen. He worked hard, took care of his family and avoided the criminal lifestyle. But someone didn’t want him around anymore – and police want to know who did it. Moreira’s friends and neighbors speculate that he may have been killed over some money he won in the nightly Boledo draw. According to information on the ground, someone had asked him for some of his winnings and he refused – so it is believed that he was killed for his own money. News Five’s Andrea Polanco covered the story today.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

Just after one this afternoon, two gunshots rang out in the Mayflower community in Belize City. The target was thirty-four-year-old Carlton Moreira. He was walking through this alley– with a beer in his hand – just around the corner from his home, when someone snuck up on him and fired two shots that caught him in the head. He fell face down and died instantly. His common-law-wife says she has no idea why he was killed.

Voice of: Angela Hines, Common-law Wife

“I just left he like ten minutes before 1 and I was about to go to work and I left him here and he was happy and everything. And thirty minutes from there, I get the message. This is really tragic. I don’t know if I can deal with it.”

Andrea Polanco

“Now, Angela, why would someone want to kill Carlton?”

Voice of: Angela Hines

“I have no idea because he doesn’t actually give trouble. He lives through this area, born and grow up. From I meet him; he doesn’t have any beef, any gangs, nothing. Even though he lives in this area he is not in gang. Anyone from around here can tell you that he is with this clique or that clique. So, I don’t know why.”

Moreira, according to those in the neighborhood, came up on a big payout from some gambling last night. And now they believe it could have possibly gotten him killed today. His wife, however, says she didn’t know the details of his win in the nightly Boledo draw.

Voice of: Angela Hines

“He didn’t actually tell me but he was hanging with his friends and he told them that they he won and everything. But he didn’t tell me directly.But, yes, I know that he had money and so forth.”

Andrea Polanco

“Do you think that could be a reason why he was killed, for his money?”

Voice of: Angela Hines

“I nuh sure. I know that he dah somebody weh nobody cyaa tell ah – like if he nuh wah give you something weh he have, he nuh wah give you. He work hard fi his stuff so if you come and say give me something, he nuh wah let that go so easy.”

And like Hines said, Moreira, from all accounts, was not a gang member nor was he affiliated with any criminal elements. He held a clean police record and earned an honest living.  But he was shot dead in the heart of a neighborhood known more for its gang culture and underworld activities – but no one believes his death is connected to the ongoing gang rivalry in the city. It is not a community where a stranger can easily walk in, kill and walk out – so from all indications, Moreira was killed by someone from within this neighborhood; someone he knew.

Voice of: Angela Hines

“I think dah somebody right from weh actually pass this alley every day. Have to. Nobody can tell me it is not that. No stranger would come through this alley. So, it has to be somebody weh he see every day and talk to him every day weh actually mussie di hate on him long time. That is all I could say.”

Moreira, a plumber by trade, was the father of two children. His common-law-wife of fourteen years, tearfully remembers the easy-going man he was.

Voice of: Angela Hines

“He was funny. He liked to laugh and give jokes. He was friendly with everybody, respectable, of course. He helpful.”

Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.