Two Arson Attempts Succeed Kanye King’s Murder
There is a state of emergency in effect for ten locations designated as hot spots on the south side of Belize City. It also includes the entire area behind the Charles Bartlett Hyde Building known as Back-a-Lands. It is the neighborhood in which sixteen-year-old Kanye King was executed on Monday morning. Since his death, the Flowers family, residents of Park Street, have been living in fear after attempts were made on separate occasions to torch their property. It is a disturbing trend that is taking place across the city in the wake of several recent incidents, where killings are avenged by burning down the homes of persons suspected of being involved with these crimes. In the case of Billy Ray Flowers and his family, a teenage minor has reportedly tried twice to set their home on fire. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
When sixteen-year-old Kanye King was murdered a few blocks away from this residence on Park Street earlier this week, the family that occupies this elevated wooden structure wouldn’t have known that in the wake of the deadly shooting their home would be targeted by a potential arsonist. It is the second time since Tuesday that Billy Ray Flowers has had to alert authorities of an arson attempt during curfew hours. His left arm is still raw from second degree burns he suffered while attempting to extinguish the flames.
Billy Ray Flowers
Voice of: Billy Ray Flowers, Resident, Park Street
“We deh up deh di watch wih TV and thing and thing, afta ten, I noh know, by the roof or by the zinc, she sih wahn bright light and so she run out by the veranda and she seh da fire. I try act quickly, I just come down di step and I seh yeah, I sih wahn gallon bottle deh, partly full with gas, right by our gas tank by da pipe, yoh check. Soh I seh, yoh know something which in ih done mi di weh di thing name already, soh I try… whiching di pipe mi deh off soh I try broke di pipe fi try mek, yeah. So I get wahn shovel and I try dash out di gallon and yes I get burn pan mi hand ya.”
That was on Tuesday night. By this morning around four o’clock, he was roused out of his slumber when he was alerted that another fire had been set under the house.
Voice of: Karen Young, Resident, Park Street
“Like minutes to four dis morning now, well from this thing happen we noh sleep eena our room, we sleep eena di hall, me and my common-law. So like minutes to four now, our neighbor holla fi we and when he come out now da then he seh, “gial dehn di try light this house again pan fyah.” And da soh when we come out we find di house, underneath by di house done up eena flame already. Di two car seat weh he had deh, dehn light. Then behind di yard way dehn light that, we find wahn next gallon bottle weh dehn bring.”
According to Karen Young, someone is intent on reducing their home to ashes. While she admits to having a sixteen-year-old son who may be involved in gang activity within the neighborhood, Young says he has been locked up at the Belize Central Prison and had nothing to do with King’s execution on Monday morning.
Voice of: Karen Young
“We innocent, we noh know nothing bout we di happen round ya, nothing none at all. Yes, I have a son, he deh da Wagner’s facility from eena May. He noh have nothing fi do with this, I noh know weh di trigga off dehn, we dehn think that we have something fi do with it, absolutely none at all, we noh have nothing and I wahn ih stop because we di get frustrated. My two daughter dehn traumatized and I noh know weh next fi do from deh but I just really want this stop.”
Despite surveillance footage capturing the arson attempt, authorities are unable to make out the culprit. The fact that they are equally endangering his granddaughter has Flowers beside himself.
Voice of: Billy Ray Flowers
“I just di try recover from my hand ya mein and di same thing, I haftu try run down and out fyah again. Dis noh di mek no sense, I noh know da who. Serious, I noh know da who but somebody need fi hold it down mein because if I ketch dehn, dehn noh wahn like di joke and ah di be real, da my family unu di mess wid mein and ih really di hurt me. I got my lee granddaughter deh.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
