Motive not yet known in Yabra murder
With official statistics either non-existent or a closely guarded secret, we cannot say with certainty whether crime in Belize is up or down. What we can say, however, is that years of observation indicate that violent criminal activity runs in streaks…and unfortunately, Belize City appears to be in the middle of a pretty bad one. The latest murder occurred in the neighbourhood of Yabra. Jacqueline Woods has the story.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Bloodstains were still visible at the spot where twenty-three year old Darrel Douglas Waight was gunned down around eleven on Monday night. Waight, who lived on Allan Pitts Crescent, was only one block away from his home when he was shot in the head. According to authorities, Waight was walking home on Caesar Ridge Road, but as he passed by the Esso terminal, a car pulled up along side him and then shots were fired. Waight fell to the ground and died shortly after at the scene.
Voice of Family Friend
“Well, I have known Darrel about ten years and I have always known him to be very quiet. He is friendly; you would have to know him in order for him to talk to you or walk with you anywhere. This was really a shock.”
Jenny Craig, City Councillor/Family Friend
“The young man is a very nice and quiet young man. I don’t know him as any troublemaker. I have worked closely with the mother for several years at Central Statistical Office and the family is a very easy family, I don’t know the young man to be a trouble maker.”
Virtually everyone we spoke with in the neighbourhood echoes those sentiments and they are puzzled and disturbed over the way he was killed. The police say they believe Waight was shot with a nine-millimetre pistol and that they have impounded a vehicle that matches the description of the car that was involved in the drive by shooting. We understand that there was one person who witnessed the killing, but as a number of previous murder cases, that person is afraid to come forward.
Authorities say they are still trying to determine why Waight was killed and whether it was a case of mistaken identity. City Councillor Jenny Craig, who resides in the area, says it’s time for some drastic action to address the escalating crime situation.
Jenny Craig
“As everyone knows, it is rising in our country and something has to be done, especially senseless killing. If there is a motive for this killing last night, I don’t know and I can’t say if there was one. But at the same time, if it is a senseless killing, something has to be done.”
What will be done is still not certain, but the police do have plans for a programme that they promise will help get the guns off the streets. Meanwhile, authorities say they have detained three persons in connection with the murder. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
Our unofficial tally puts the number of murders committed thus far in 2003 at forty-two.
