Deandre Adolphus is Rubbed Out in an Internal Gang Feud

Deandre Adolphus

There was an execution-style murder this morning in Belize City where a young man’s life was brought to an abrupt end in what appears to be serious friction within one of the south side gangs.  While many were on their way to work at various stores and offices on Albert Street, just one block over, the report of gunfire interrupted the calm on Wagner’s Lane.  When it was all over, twenty-three-year-old Deandre Adolphus lay dead after being struck multiple times to the head and upper body.  It’s a violent end for someone who was an alleged perpetrator of gun violence.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

This morning, the loud echo of gunshots startled residents of Wagner’s Lane.  A young man, no stranger to the neighborhood, or the law, was ruthlessly dispatched in a hail of bullets.  Deandre Adolphus was released from the Belize Central Prison in June 2020, when a murder case involving him as one of two suspects, fell apart in the Supreme Court.  At the time, Adolphus, along with another individual, stood accused of carrying out the shooting death of Mark Jones.  Today, the twenty-three-year-old met a similar fate as he stood on Jump Street.

Voice of: Wagner’s Lane Resident

“He told us good morning with a smile on his face and went to buy what he went to buy and he went back…  He came back around here like three times since this morning and I couldn’t believe that the third time he came that that would happen to him.”

According to Senior Superintendent Hilberto Romero, the deadly attack on Adolphus may have been the result of an internal row within the gang to which he belonged.

Hilberto Romero

Sr. Supt. Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“Police responded to a shooting incident at Wagner’s Lane.  Upon their arrival, they found the motionless body of Deandre Adolphus.  He received multiple gunshot wounds and was escorted to the K.H.M.H. where he was pronounced dead on arrival.  Investigation is that this morning, sometime before eight a.m., he was in that area when a male person approached him and fired several shots towards his direction, causing his fatal injuries.  We have several persons in custody at this time, we are conducting interviews and we are trying to locate one more suspect in regards to this murder.”

Isani Cayetano

“Any motives as to why they would attack Mr. Adolphus in that area, considering that we are told [that] he’s a resident of the Rocky Road area?”

Sr. Supt. Hilberto Romero

“Yes, we are getting initial reports that it may be an internal feud between them.”

The young lady to whom Adolphus bade the time of day, recounted what transpired at time the shots rang out.  She was with her mother who was about to go to a nearby shop when the armed assault on Adolphus took place.

Voice of: Wagner’s Lane Resident

“A barrage of shots started to ring off and I told her to please come inside because I thought it was my uncle.  And when we came outside, we saw the young man on the floor. We had to put a white shirt over his face because no one could see him like that, you understand.  He’s somebody that comes around here every morning to buy at that lady through the next alley, so I don’t think that anybody would harm him or do him anything wrong.  But I don’t think that he did anything wrong this morning to let that happen to him.”

A motive is yet to be ascertained definitively, but it can be argued that Adolphus’ past may have caught up with him.  While on remand at the prison, he enrolled in one of several programs that are being facilitated by the Kolbe Foundation.

Virgilio Murillo

Virgilio Murillo, C.E.O., Kolbe Foundation

“We have programs for the remanded inmates since 2017 and certainly the young man participated in the program that dealt with gangs because he was a member, a known member of a particular gang.”

This morning’s murder on Wagner’s Lane happened while the team of police officers that is stationed at that location was attending a daily briefing at Precinct One, several blocks away.

Sr. Supt. Hilberto Romero

“We will not be able to stop every shooting incident but we will still continue to work in that community and again, information thus far is that it is an internal feud, so we will bring the parties together after investigation and then see how we can prevent any further escalation of the violence.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.