Suspects detained in city murder
The Cash for Guns programme may be taking firearms off Belize City’s streets in record numbers, but it by no means has got them all. On Monday night a bullet ended the life of one young man as he walked on Jasmine Street.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Raquel Baptist was home with some friends when she received the news that her son, 20-year old Arthur Adolphus had been shot.
Raquel Baptist, Mother
“When I got at the hospital, I asked to go in and they have the door closed. They don’t want me to go in, the security doesn’t want me to go in. I told them to let me in because I am the mother. But they have all the boys around him, at least I could have seen or talked to him for his last breath. When he had already died, that’s when they open the door for me told me that my little boy died. When I went in, I saw the shot at his neck, a big hole and it’s bleeding, all the blood was still gushing. The doctor said that he couldn’t do nothing for him.”
Adolphus was shot about a block away from his house. Adolphus had had just left a Chinese shop in the company of a friend when he was hit around 9:30 Monday night.
Raquel Baptist, Mother
“All of them were at a Chinese shop and while coming from the Chiney, they say this boy rode up and shot my son. He said that my son dropped and when he dropped, he asked him “Dread, Dread, where did you get shot?” He said the way my son dropped was like he got shot in his knee, so he said that he was asking him “Dread, you got shot in your knee? Dread you got shot?” He said “Let me take you?” and my son is telling him “No my boy.” He said and when he looked, all he saw was my son grabbing here and that’s when a man from around the street, put him in the back of a pickup and took him to the hospital.”
Since the murder, the police have been questioning a number of people and have detained one suspect, 18-year old Jeffrey Budd and are looking for other suspects in the case.
Jacqueline Woods
“The police say they have detained a suspect. Right now they don’t have a motive for the shooting, but you were telling me that there were a number of guys that used to come by the house and harass him.”
Raquel Baptist
“You got the one, Tito, that told my daughter “Run for the police now.” That’s when all of us were already getting into the car, because I had four of my friends with me in the car and they heard what he told me. Then you have the other one, Jervis. When I went to the police station just now, he was right at the street side and he watched me and smiled, then rode off when me and my sister was passing. A big smile was on his face and he rode off, but I didn’t pay him any attention. Saturday he (my son) was sitting on a step at one of his friends house right around the lane and they went and chase him way there with gun.”
“I don’t know why this harassing, but I heard that the little one that he hung out with, that it wasn’t my son that they wanted to shoot. They said that it was the boy and the little one that had something. But then the friend said that it was Arthur that they wanted to shoot, because he hooked him in the head and Arthur has dreads, so if it was Shawn that they wanted to shoot, they would have shot Shawn. Shawn doesn’t have dreads, my son has dreads. They said he hooked him in the head, then placed the gun here and shot him.”
Today, the police had detained Luis “Tito” Gillette and are on the look out for Jervis Flowers. This afternoon, the police went to the two suspects homes to look for the murder weapon.
Crispin Jeffries, Senior Superintendent, Police
“This exercise is a follow up to a shooting incident which occurred on Jasmine Street last night sometime between 9:00 and 10:00. As a result of that incident, a young male person is now dead and the follow up investigation is that the property that we are on may be where one or more of the firearms held by the rival group is being hidden and that is the purpose of our exercise here.”
Jacqueline Woods
“You mention rival group. Was the murder gang related?”
Crispin Jeffries
“We wouldn’t call it gang related, but they are obviously different groups of young persons that may have grown up in this neighbourhood here, but for some reason or another, during this age that they reached, this teenage or young adult age, they’ve separated. So there is really no gang or colours as such, but it is in fact a rival group.”
However, the police were unable to gain access into the building because Flowers’ uncle was not at home…and Harry Thomas, Flowers brother was not ready to cooperate. The police strongly believed Jervis was hiding inside the house and wanted his brother to climb through an open window to open a back door to let them in.
Harry Thomas
“…he’s a different uncle.”
Crispin Jeffries
“So who lives in here?”
Harry Thomas
“The one that builds houses.”
Crispin Jeffries
“Listen to me. We want to search their house for a gun that they shot somebody with last night. I told you that from the time I came here and I won’t change that.”
Harry Thomas
“Mr. Jeffries, I can’t… I already know Mr. Jeffries.”
Crispin Jeffries
“We will find him, open the houses and if he takes too long, we will use force to get in as long as one of you are around, but we need to get in there and search.”
The police finally gained access into the building, but were once again unable to get into a back room. Jeffries says although they have the authority to use force they will contact the owner of the house in order to conduct a proper search.
At newstime the murder weapon has not yet been found.
