Brandon Taylor dodges murder charge in death of Kaylon Matura

Brandon Taylor

After more than two weeks in trial, the case of thirty-year-old, Brandon Taylor, charged with the May 2012 shooting murder of Kaylon Matura, came to a close. And it is the second time that Taylor has beaten a murder rap.  Matura was shot on Central American Boulevard, Belize City, not far from his home. Taylor was acquitted before Justice Adolph Lucas who reached a decision after looking at certain factors to prove that Taylor had committed the crime. In concluding, however, the judge noted that the prosecution failed to prove that it was Taylor who carried out the crime. The prosecution alleged that Andrew Willoughby saw when Taylor shot and killed Matura. Willoughby told police in a 2012 statement that he was riding his bicycle on Central American Boulevard while it was drizzling when he saw Taylor fire four shots at Matura’s chest with a point three-eighty firearm. Willoughby also claimed he alerted Matura’s common-law wife, Natalie McKenzie to call the ambulance as her boyfriend had just been shot. However, on the stand, Willoughby who is presently on remand for another murder had amnesia and turned hostile and maintained he knew nothing about the murder. In his ruling, the Judge noted a number of discrepancies and inconsistencies in Willoughby’s 2012 statement. While the doctor testified that Matura was shot four times, only one of the shots was to the chest and not four like Willoughby said. The Judge also did not believe that Willoughby could discern the calibre of the gun from such a distance while it was drizzling. The justice also noted that Matura’s common-law wife did not mention anything about speaking to Willoughby on the day of the murder. Taylor denied committing the murder and called two alibi witnesses. In the end he was acquitted and was free to go. Matura’s murder, it is believed, led to the senseless murder of eleven year old Daniel Matura.  It is alleged that the gunman saw Taylor after the murder of Matura and went after him but caught the young boy instead. Willoughby is presently on remand for the murder of the child. Years ago, Taylor beat the murder of Glenford Williams, a security guard who was killed in an armed robbery at Western Union when it was located on Regent Street in Belize City.