Frederick Flowers murdered in hail of bullets
Fredrick Flowers
Murders, they have become the norm in the City Streets, and they are now becoming as frequent in daylight. Just before nine o’clock this morning, the life of twenty-three year old Fredrick Flowers was cut short when he was hit by a barrage of bullets in a dangerous area of Bagdad Street. The Jane Usher Boulevard resident was still alive when the police took him to the hospital. Flowers, according to his family, was mentally disabled and had just dropped in to visit with his grandmother when he was gunned down. News Five’s Jose Sanchez was at the scene of the murder and has this report.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Another young Belize City male was gunned downed today. It was an early murder that occurred just after nine this morning. A bullet hole is visible on the red zinc fence in front of where twenty-three year old Frederick Flowers was standing, when he was wounded in a hail of gunfire. He collapsed inside his grandmother’s yard. His father was with him minutes before his death.
Charles Martinez, Father of Fredrick Flowers
“In my faith and power with God I conscious dat dah noh he because I know he noh do nobody nothing.”
Jose Sanchez
“Do you think maybe it’s the location because sometimes because people get hurt for living on this street or living through a nearby alley?”
Charles Martinez
“Well I tell you inna di streets you got wah lot ah people weh do b***s***. And later on faces favor faces. You got some guys weh player hate. Some guys get paid fi knock you off, knock off dah one but dehn noh know who wah knock dehn off. Dehn neva know dat. Dehn just di go round and doing all dehn kind ah b***s*** yah and dehn neva think bout who wah knock dehn off.”
Voice of: Aunt of Fredrick Flowers
“I think di law has to come wid more pressure weh di happen because dis killing really di get out ah hand and we need fi do something bout it. Directly people wah start to tek di law inna dehn own hand because just like how fi dehn mother di bawl, fi dehn mother could bawl di same way and I feel like dis should end. Dehn bwai should put down di gun, find something else fi do more dan get out yah and di shoot people. If you and somebody have wah misunderstanding, you go and you talk to dah person. You noh have to shoot nobody cause nobody dah noh black bird out ya. Everybody have feelings.”
Flowers, a resident of Jane Usher Boulevard Extension, went with his father to visit his grandmother’s house on Bagdad Street at the time he was shot. His shades, slippers and the tool of his trade, a machete, all lie on the ground in the yard. His father said he tried to teach him right from wrong.
Charles Martinez
“These youth need to be with God. Dehn youth yah noh have God bredda. Dehn noh pray.”
Jose Sanchez
“The first thing people would say, is ‘Someone got killed. Maybe he was in a gang.’ Was Fredrick that kind of person?”
Charles Martinez
Charles Martinez
“He’s not a gang man. He noh got no tattoo wid no gang because all gang have wah tattoo dat mark dat there is a gang but he noh have dehn thing because di way I raise my kids dem, I raise dem wid intelligency and knowledge. Yoh understand me. Achieve weh you want by sweat.”
Jose Sanchez
“I understand Fredrick was going to work.”
Charles Martinez
“Yes he was going to work with me. I went to the boss house to come over to come and pick he up to go and work. You understand me. But when I reach dah di boss house ih neva deh home; he went out. So when he come dah den I come and find dis tragedy here.”
Flowers’ police record contained minor offenses. His father’s said that the youth was taken advantage of because of a mental disability.
Charles Martinez
“From childhood he had a mental problem because ih fall down and wah nail mi gone inna ih head. So therefore anybody who came wid b***s*** and thing just get around he easy because ih brain no really in tact fi conscious of what he di deal wid. He dah noh gunman, he dah noh killer, he dah nothing. Yoh understand me.”
And it was because of that mental disability he was taken advantage of in 2008. While in police lock up for a stick of weed, he was given a gold chain by Kevin ‘Possum’ Dawson in exchange for his clothes and his identity. Dawson who was on remand for burglary, was facing an additional charge for drug trafficking. He was temporarily freed because he switched identities with Flowers, who in turn got an additional charge.
Charles Martinez
“From since the time he went and spent a little time that he has a problem in the custody with a chain business, dah den from deh everything change wid he from di time ih gone and spend time because when ih come out I talk to him and tell him right from wrong. You know. Ih tell me ih seh daddy I wa change my life because weh you di tell me is di truth.”
Six yellow cards mark the spots where the slugs fell on the ground near the sidewalk. Flowers was shot at close range. His aunt believes it’s time to bring back the death penalty.
Voice of: Aunt of Fredrick Flowers
“Di government need fi start to pop dehn neck. Dat dah di only way di killing wah stop; when dehn start to hang people because ih noh mek no sense cause any time dehn hold dehn yoh yer dehn noh got enough evidence. Yoh yer dehn don’t have enough dis fi bring nobody to justice. So dehn have to change, dehn have to do something about dis. Di only solution dah fi bruk dehn neck.”
Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
Up to late this evening no one had been charged in today’s homicide.
Yeah man, Belize is getting on real bad. We are now third in the caribbean for murder rate with Jamaica at first, and Trinidad at second. But the bad thing about our murder rate in Belize, is that is so random, and you never know if someone is going to shoot you for no reason, soon we will have to stay in our house for fear of these gun slinging cowboys out there.
The best cure would be scentencing murderers to life Imprisonment and hard labor, with a chance of parole after 30 years. Which means that they work to actually do something for the country instead of wrecking it.
Death Penalty will not fly. Both the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Privy Council will oppose it. so it looks like it is hard labor we need to make work
It is always sad to read about another murder, or another rape, or another case of child abuse in the news of Belize, But I am also fed up with the fact that it seem that the people of Belize are still not doing very much to stop the crimes or put a reign on what is happening on the streets of Belize.
It is time to stop all the talking, and actually do something about it. How many more of your sons or daughters will have to die, raped, and abused before the people actually get up and take matters in their hands.
i strongly believe our government are scared of the gun slingers because the are not affected yet.
I agree with the three statements you guys have made. The people of Belize need to make a stand, a hudge stand to stop the violence back home. Many of us can’t even go home for a little vacation because of fear for our lives, Like Steve life wiht the possibility of parole and hard labour is the best way to go by this, since death penalty is off the table.
“Di only solution dah fi bruk dehn neck”……..the real problem is that police can’t even convict people! First think people want is the death penalty, how can you want that result when we can’t even convict these killers? Government needs to invest in training of police officers in proper evidence collecting techniques, technology for processing evidence (DNA, fingerprinting etc…), and develop some kind of witness protection program. We have 21st century crime, with 19th century crime solving practices.
maddyvandijk, wat do u suppose we do??????? without d backup of the government there’s not much we as a people can do!!!!!!!!!
I believe Adele Ramos had written an article in the Amandala a couple of weeks ago, revealing the statistics of actual murder vs convictions, tried to find it just now was but unsuccessful. Can you imagine of all the murders that has happen within the past couple of years, there are only 29 or 30 serving life sentences?……most of the murder cases get thrown out because of lack of evidence (due to crappy police investigation), no eyewitness (cause witnesses are terrified), the same police would tell the criminals who is testifying against them! It’s really crazy!
Government knows what it needs to do, but resolving the crime situation doesn’t seem to be a financial priority.
Quoting Janelle: “Many of us can’t even go home for a little vacation because of fear for our lives.”
In which country do you live?
The death squad within the Belize police Dept. is know for going to gangs and recruiting the youngest gang members to go out and kill others. They tell them to dress in all black to be less noticeable. Wonder why someone would ride by on a bick and just shoot someone in broad daylight and not worry about getting arrested???
the number one problem as to why police cannot convict people is because as soon as money start to role some scum lawyer take up the case and they know exactley how to lie and BAMM murderer is out in the strret again to kill to rape to rob, the cycle continue, I wonder if these scum lawyers can sleep good in the night?? Their bank account is fat, and the violence continues. SO SAD, money is the root of all evil??/
I agree with Star. There needs to be special training for a large group of people for proper investigations and evidence. If evidence is found, store it in a safe place, and deal with the case. How many murder cases are left undealt with in Belize? Many… And i they are not being followed up. A murder happens today, then they jump on that and forget about the one that happened yesterday, leaving everything undone.
The People in the Government are the cause. No matter what you do If you knows someone who is related to the leaders you go free. Kill to today leave the country the next day with help. Can you imagine the Prime Minister begging for a meeting with the Gang members. He should be locking these people up. They need a trauma center to take care of Gunshot victims. The leaders need to stop create jobs for their relatives and pay for real jobs that will serve the country. If you cannot run the country let someone else runs it.
We need to do something about these senseless murders! I’m tired of my fellow Belizeans resorting to finger pointing. They say, “I blame the present administration,” I blame the police department’s lack of intelligence…. and so on. Look people, what about us, what can we do to make a change? Playing the blame game will not get anything accomplish. You know the cliche “THE CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE”, well, we have to start by educating today’s youth by bring teachers into the classroom that want to teach actually, and not just doing it as a last resort. We have to start to value education, and read more instead of washing BET and wanting to be like “50 cent” and “Shine” the rappers. What most of the youths don’t understand is that hip-hop/rap has been completely commercialize, all they see is the money, cars, clothes, and other items these stars possess and idolize them, when in reality this is not the way these stars live on a daily basis. We need to move away from this, open our eyes, face reality, stay in school, and educate ourselves.
I’m not currently residing in belize but my family visits often i’m so afraid of what might happen to me when visiting home. i would like to come back and raise my children there but i don’t think it is safe. each time i read the news it is always killing what is going on done there?