Murdered for a Bike in San Pedro

Two murders were recorded over the weekend: one on Ambergris Caye and the other in Orange Walk. The first occurred on Saturday night in San Pedro Town when Hilberto Caliz was killed. Tonight, sources confirm with News Five that an eighteen-year-old Julio Paiz has been charged for the killing and will be arraigned on Tuesday in Belize City. But was Caliz killed over a bicycle? News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

Hilberto Caliz was a carpenter and footballer, but on Saturday night, he was gunned down a few feet from his home in the San Pedrito area of San Pedro Town. The thirty-six-year-old was heading home when he was ambushed by a gunman and shot several times. His girlfriend who spoke to us off camera said she heard the shots and witnessed the cold-blooded killing of her partner.

Voice of: Girlfriend of Deceased

“I thought that it was pop shots like how Christmas soon come. Then I saw the neighbour running ina fu he yard. And then I peep and I see somebody else running ina di yard too and then I saw my bwai was running and I saw the person that killed him running and shooting him. And he drop right there and the bwai still come and continue shooting him.”

Edilberto Caliz, Brother of Deceased

Edilberto Caliz

“Nobody wants to really talk, nobody wants to say anything. I don’t blame them, but there is a God above. To what they told us, the guy came out of a fence, started shooting at him, my brother fell. He tried to run, but he was caught and when he was on the gun, they say the guy just came and shot him for the last time.”

The Caliz family is devastated, but Hilberto’s youngest brother, Edilberto spoke on behalf of the family. He shared a bit of what happened that evening.

Edilberto Caliz

“Nobody wants to really talk, nobody wants to say anything. I don’t blame them, but there is a God above. To what they told us, the guy came out of a fence, started shooting at him, my brother fell. He tried to run, but he was caught and when he was on the gun, they say the guy just came and shot him for the last time. He was never a bad person, always made you laugh, shared jokes; he’s always worried about everybody else. My brother didn’t owe anybody anything. Just recently, I could say that he did change his life; he used to drink a lot. He quit lotta drinking, dedicated to work. He was all about settling down, finally got the job he wanted. And what hurts the most is that it happened just before my mom’s birthday. So my brother didn’t owe anybody anything mien; it’s not fair.”

The shooter was quickly apprehended by police. To everyone’s surprise, the attacker was well-known to the deceased as they worked together.  It is believed that the incident stems from this bike… the shooter had reportedly stolen a bicycle belonging to Hilberto’s girlfriend. Hilberto confronted him, but was then threatened.

Voice of: Girlfriend

“That day we came that we get the bike, that he get the bike because they give the bike to he.  We never know dah that bwai mi have it. We come in here and I told him thank god we find the bike. He tell me yes babe, I tell ahn but the bwai threaten me. Ih tell me lef ahn, he noh wah do nothing. Ih just dah wah young bwai, he can’t do nothing. But I neva know that he mi wha kill my….”

Edilberto Caliz

“We as the family know weh happen, but we can’t take justice ina fi we hands so we have to be patient and make the law do ih job and hopefully we get justice for my breda because it didn’t take long before they caught him. So I just hope he pays for what he did to us because my brother was actually teaching him a trade for him to do that to my brother. But life goes on mien.”

Duane Moody for News Five.