A vigil for Allyson Major

Allyson Major Junior was shot and killed by police almost a week ago, but his friends and family were determined to use his untimely death to shine a light on the spate of violence across the city. Major’s supporters took to Battlefield Park, Belize City where they held a peaceful gathering to talk about his senseless killing and make a call for peace. The family says that they have received an outpouring of community support, which continued on Monday evening at the Battle Park for the vigil. Reporter Andrea Polanco shares more from that event.

Andrea Polanco, Reporting

On Monday evening, family and friends of Allyson Major gathered at the Battlefield Park in Belize City to hold a candlelight vigil in his honour. The attendees held candles as others shared kind words and poems. Kayla Arnold is a relative of the slain teacher. She says that the vigil is to unify.

Kayla Arnold, Cousin of the Deceased

Kayla Arnold

“The way how everything happened is completely unexpected. It is not something that our family in no way was preparing for, thinking it would happen or anything like that. What transpired in itself was a complete injustice towards our family. Rather than sitting down and taking it and staying in our homes and grieving, we decided to do vigil to call out all his friends and loved ones to have everyone come together; people with like situations; people who are grieving; people who have lost a loved one to violence. We are using this vigil and Allyson’s life to unify everyone.”

Thirty-six-year-old teacher Allyson Major was killed just a stone’s throw away from the Battlefield Park last week Wednesday. He was involved in a high-speed police chase in downtown Belize City because police claim he had marijuana in his possession. A police officer fired a shot that caught him in the head which caused him to crash into a bus. Major died hours later at the hospital. Arnold says that the way Major’s life was taken at the hands of cops has devastated the family.

Kayla Arnold

“You know what really transpired with this whole situation over the last week and why a lot of people may not understand why this hurts so much, is because we are a family of educators. As educators, my aunt was a teacher for over thirty years, his wife is still a teacher, he was a teacher, I was a teacher myself. We are all public servants. We are people who have been doing our jobs. We have taught police officers, lawyers and we have taught doctors.”

An internal investigation is ongoing to determine which one of the officers fired the fatal shot. Allyson Major Junior will be laid to rest on Saturday.

Andrea Polanco reporting for News Five.