Could Niccanor Fermin Have Been Saved?

William Dawson

Several months ago, Fermin’s mother had reached out to the Belize Police Department, as well as the Wagner’s Youth Facility to secure a scholarship opportunity for her son.  While that did not work out, Director William Dawson did come into contact with the young man.

William Dawson, Leadership Intervention Unit

“In the past three months, I think, we’ve lost around seven young people.  As you are aware, I’ve been dealing with young people for twenty years and recently, for the past five years, I’ve been the director of the Wagner’s Youth Facility, Belize Central Prison.  But I know the young man because his mother introduced me to him about three months ago, seeking assistance to engage him in some type of educational program but we were not able to immediately follow up with that.  He, of course, seemed to have some behavioral issues like many young people in Belize and we need to use that as an example to create more support systems and outreach programs to assist young men like that young man that lost his life, unfortunately.”