Two Officers Walk in Negligent Death of Derrick Uh

Derrick Uh

On Wednesday, in the Corozal Magistrate’s Court, a pair of police officers, Isaias Sanchez and Rosario Romero, were cleared of serious charges following instructions from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to withdraw charges of manslaughter by negligence against them.  This is in respective of the death of twenty-year-old Derrick Uh, who perished inside a police van at the Corozal Police Station on August 2022.  In the wake of that tragic incident, four officers, including Alrick Borland, Errol Peralta, Isaias Sanchez and Rosario Romero, were criminally charged.  In the courtroom of Magistrate Sharmaine Gillett yesterday, Corporal Jorge Ayala, the prosecutor, informed the court of the D.P.P.’s directives to withdraw the charges against Sanchez, who was unrepresented, and Romero, who has retained the counsel of attorney Hurl Hamilton.

No reasons were given for the decision taken by the D.P.P.’s office.  The case was adjourned to July fourteenth, 2023.  On the evening of August fourteenth, 2022, Derrick Uh was taken into police custody for allegedly touching a female patron inappropriately while attending the San Joaquin Festival.  He was detained and placed in the back of a police van and then transported to Corozal Town where he was forgotten.  Several hours later, Uh was found dead inside the vehicle after being left in the sweltering heat.