Police officers yet to be charged in prisoner death

Today the family of Daniel Tillett came together in mourning and continues to question the manner in which he died. Just before four p.m. September twenty-first, the husband and father of two was at Independence Park, Belmopan, celebrating the holiday with his family when he was arrested. Police claim he was involved in a fight and harassed them when they tried to break it up. He was escorted to the Belize Police Headquarters in Belmopan. By five that evening he was dead. The initial press release from police said officers found Tillett lying in his own vomit and he may have suffocated. But the results of a postmortem late yesterday revealed that when Tillett died he had water in his lungs, a ruptured liver and a fractured skull. Every officer on duty that day at the Belmopan Station is being questioned and the cellblock where Tillett died is closed off as a crime scene. Three officers: P.C. Jesus Cantun, P.C. Marilyn Casey and P.C. Dennis Myles, have been detained pending charges. The family is refusing to be interviewed on camera on the advice of Tillett’s sister but say when Tillett’s wife, Elvira, tried to stay with him at the police station she was told to leave or she and her children would be arrested. She never saw her husband alive again. Lionel Tzul, the man police claim was fighting with Tillett, told News Five there was no fight and that Tillett was dancing and having a good time before being arrested. Even though Tzul could not hear what was happening with Tillett in another cell, he says other prisoners told him they could hear the police beating Tillett. The family says they went to the Human Rights Commission when they learnt of his death because they knew something was wrong with the story they were being told. The family maintains Tillett was never one to get violent when under the influence of alcohol. They are launching their own investigation into his death. They say they are afraid that if they release any information they have obtained, their loved one’s death will go unpunished. The Police Department continues its investigation but has yet to file official charges against any police officer. Tillett will be buried tomorrow afternoon at Our Lady of Guadelupe Cathedral in Belmopan.