A Taxi Driver is Executed at His Reggae Street Address on Friday Night
Walter Beaton
In Belize City, six children were left without their father when the life of a well-known taxi driver was cut short. Forty-eight-year-old Walter Beaton, also known as Welch, was shot multiple times and his body found in a drain on Reggae Street early on Saturday morning. Beaton’s common-law wife recalls that they were being trailed by a vehicle as he transported her home on Friday night. Later when he arrived at his house, a gunman lurking in his yard executed the cabbie who worked out of the Euphrates Taxi stand. The motive for his execution is yet to be determined. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
A father of six was shot and killed outside of his home on Reggae Street on Friday night, his lifeless body discovered in a drain the following morning. Forty-five-year-old Walter Lindon Beaton, a cab driver of Belize City, was reportedly waylaid by an assailant inside his yard and upon reaching home that night, was met with a deadly spray of gunfire.
Voice of: Shakira Paulino, Common-law Wife of Deceased
“Well I noh really weh happen afta when ih done drop me but I know ih pick up me from work and when ih pick up me, wahn vehicle mi di trail we exactly from my work and we stop da di police station da Belama, we stop deh, I tell ahn, he seh mek we stop eena di light because da he sih di vehicle di trail we. We stop da di station in the light and when we stop deh di vehicle stay behind we fi bout five minutes and when di vehicle stay behind we, di vehicle pass we. When di vehicle pass we, bout ten minutes afta we gaan, deh right behind di vehicle when we deh behind di vehicle, I sih di vehicle do two u-turn by di roundabout by Faber’s Road.”
According to Beaton’s common-law wife, Shakira Paulino, who spoke with the media off-camera earlier today, they were being pursued by an unidentified vehicle. Somewhere along the way, they thought that they had slipped the vehicle since it was no longer in sight.
Voice of: Shakira Paulino
“When dat done happen we lost di vehicle, soh we neva di pay dat no mind. So he tell me mek we, ih gaan drop me. When ih drop me da Pelican [Street], ih drop me deh. When time ih drop me, bout fifteen minutes afta, I sih di same vehicle turn di other way to fi he direction but ih went wahn other street. When ih gaan to di other street now, bout fifteen minutes later I yer bout so much shot but I neva di think da he.”
Beaton, otherwise known as Welch, was shot multiple times during the ambush. The gunman waited behind this zinc fence and at first chance, pounced on his quarry with a deadly consequence.
Alejandro Cowo
ASP Alejandro Cowo, O.C., C.I.B., Belize City
“Just at about 6:30 a.m., police were called to Reggae Street whereupon arrival at Reggae Street they observed a male person lying face down inside of a drain. The person had gunshot injuries to his body. The police processed the scene where expended shells were found and thereafter the body was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. What police gathered so far is that the male person that was found inside of the drain was identified as Walter Lindon Beaton, a forty-five-year-old Belizean of a Reggae Street address.”
Police say that Beaton, a cabdriver who worked out of the Euphrates Taxi Stand, had just arrived at his residence and was exiting a white Kia vehicle when he was blindsided.
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“We don’t have any motive and that is something that we are trying to establish at this moment.”
Reporter
“Was the shooter inside the yard?”
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“We suspect that he was inside of the yard.”
Reporter
“Sir, was there any sort of robbery element in this particular instance or was it simply an execution, a street execution?”
ASP Alejandro Cowo
“As far as we understand, nothing was stolen from him at the time.”
Paulino continues to say that she attempted on several occasions to get in touch with her common-law husband in the wake of the shooting. It wasn’t until the following morning that it was confirmed to her that he was indeed the victim of the incident.
Voice of: Shakira Paulino
“I get up di mawnin and I call he back, and I call he back early di mawnin. My commadre call me and tell me dat dehn find Welch eena di yard and stuff. I tell she ih cyant be because I sih Welch last night, I tell she Welch pick up me last night. I tell ahn I di call he right now. Ih seh yes, dehn kill ahn and thing. So when I reach deh and I sih ih body, ih mi just real shocking to me mein because Welch noh mess with nobody, he live da back deh but he noh mess wid none ah dehn da back deh. If dehn woulda wahn wah lee tools, wahn lee two dollars or anything he give dehn anything dehn woulda wahn. Soh I noh know why dehn woulda wahn chance he yoh know because he da noh dehn type a person. He da man fi ih pickney dehn.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
