Denroy Nicholas Killed in PG Ahead of Supreme Court Trial in Griga

Denroy Nicholas

There were two murders in southern Belize. A Punta Gorda resident was to appear in court in Dangriga today, but his life was cut short on Sunday night. Twenty-three year old Denroy Nicholas exited his mother’s house to go to his room in the same yard, when he was shot to the chest and died on the spot. Did Nicholas’ past come back to haunt him?  His family says his life had been threatened following a shooting incident in which he had been involved. Here is News Five’s Isani Cayetano with a report.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

On Sunday night, just before nine o’clock, Phyllis Nicholas was inside her home on Toucan Street here in Punta Gorda, watching a Nollywood movie with a family friend when she heard a single blast, followed by a desperate cry for help.

Phyllis Nicholas, Mother of Deceased

“We were all sitting down here watching a Nigerian movie when all of a sudden we heard a loud bang and immediately after the loud bang my son bawl, “Ma!” and I looked at my friend that was sitting down by me and she looked at me and we rushed outside and when we rushed outside, we opened the door [and] my son was on the ground already dead.”

Twenty-three-year-old Denroy Nicholas had been mortally wounded when a bullet from a lone attacker caught him in the upper left side of the chest.  By the time his mother got to him, he had already expired from the injury.

Phyllis Nicholas

Phyllis Nicholas

“In that short space of time, that was like less than two minutes, less than a minute he was dead and I looked around and I didn’t see anybody.  There was no one around.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Joseph Myvett describes what the responding officers encountered upon being called out to the scene.

Joseph Myvett

ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch

“Punta Gorda police were called to an area near the cemetery in Punta Gorda Town where upon arrival they observed the apparent lifeless body of Denroy Nicholas, twenty-three-years-old, inside his yard.  What we know so far is that he was at his mother’s home inside the said yard and had just stepped outside to go into his own room which is within the same yard when a single gunshot blast was heard and he was seen on the ground.  He was transported to the Punta Gorda Hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

Incidentally, Nicholas was set to travel to Dangriga today where he was scheduled to appear in court in an ongoing trial.  He stood accused of attempted murder, following an incident that occurred in the past when he reportedly shot another PG resident.

Phyllis Nicholas

“He was supposed to go to court this morning, to be in court in Dangriga for nine o’clock.  So he supposed to mi just come from take a trim because he was supposed to be on the six o’clock bus to go to this court business.  Apparently he had a court case because about a year or change ago, he had a mishap with some friend that they accused him that he shot the young man.  And so he went to jail for about two months or so and he came back.  He was on bail, Supreme Court bail, so that was where he was supposed to be attending.”

Investigators also acknowledge Nicholas’ past, in respect of that previous shooting incident, as a possible motive for his execution.

ACP Joseph Myvett

“At this point in time we are looking at several possibilities.  The first being that he had a case of an attempted murder for which he should have appeared in this session of the Supreme Court.”

Notwithstanding that pending matter, Nicholas’ mother said his life had been placed at risk and accosted by the same individual he had allegedly shot.

Phyllis Nicholas

“Before this, he had been threatened sometime in the month of, between the end of July to the first week of August, he was threatened.  He was beaten by the said enemy and they followed him and he was shot at by the hospital, the PG Hospital.  Two days later he ended up leaving here and went to Belmopan.  So he was just back from Belmopan.”

While Phyllis Nicholas says her son was no saint, she also says that recently he was trying to turn his life around and had plans of finding a job to provide for her.  Denroy is the third of eight children she has lost to violence. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.