Sixteen year old boy shot dead in his bedroom

There is another shooting incident in Belize City to report this evening; only this time it does not involve young boys fighting over drugs or firearms. Around eight o’clock last night, the relative peace and tranquility of Louise Bevans Street in the Port Loyola Area of the City was shattered by the single gunshot, which took the life of sixteen year old Anthony Staine Jr. Officer in Charge of C.I.B., Simeon Alvarez says the killing has been ruled an accident, nonetheless the fifteen year old boy who pulled the trigger has been arrested and charged.

A.I.P. Simeon Alvarez, Officer in Charge, C.I.B.

“The police received a telephone call of a shooting incident at a home situated on Louise Bevans Avenue, Louise Bevans Street – that’s in the Port Loyola Area. Upon the police arrival there, the lifeless body of a sixteen year old, Anthony Staine was seen lying down in the living room of the house. As the investigation continued it was learnt that a sixteen year old minor who is the cousin of the deceased was playing with a licensed 16 gauge shotgun where he pointed the gun in the direction where his cousin was sitting on a bed. According to the minor he accidentally touched the trigger, the gun went off hitting Staine in the face.

At the beginning once it is death is involved negligently or deliberately we treat it as murder. After consulting the Director of the Public Prosecutions, the D.P.P.’s office, the charge of manslaughter was made on the minor.”

Relatives of the two boys say they were close cousins and very good friends. The gun, licensed to Pastor Melvin Davis Senior has been confiscated and will be used as evidence in the trial. Police say that if it is proven that it was because of negligence that the young boy was able to have access to the weapon, the license could be revoked.