Family pulls the plug on brain dead shooting victim
Darrel Williams
There is a reprieve from gun violence in the streets since Monday night’s terror, but still a third victim succumbed to a bullet wound he suffered around six-thirty on Monday evening on Central American Boulevard. Nineteen year old Darrel Williams was already declared clinically dead since Monday night but his family was contemplating whether they should take him off life support or allow him to pass on his own. On Tuesday afternoon they took the painful decision to pull the plug. Williams was at the wrong place in Monday night’s shooting spree. He had gone to visit his mother at her home on Central American Boulevard when he was hit by one of several bullets reportedly fired by two youths on bicycles a few hundred feet away in the vicinity of Faber’s Road and the Boulevard. The bullet penetrated a sign on the street before hitting him in the forehead. Williams’ death brings to three the total number of homicides committed between Monday night and Tuesday morning in the old capital. And while police have not yet made any arrests, there is closure for Williams’ family.
Glenstine Martinez
The following morning in the same area, thirty-three year old Glenstine Martinez was gunned down while washing his van in front of his home. That incident occurred around six thirty on Tuesday morning. His mother, Casmore Martinez told News Five that she saw Martinez talking to a young man who rode up on a bicycle. Glenstine was shot in the head and he died at the scene. Casmore also told us that she believed the motive was robbery, eerily similar to when his restaurant was targeted in February of 2005. When that incident occurred, Glenstine told News Five that the thieves timed the attack.
Glenstine Martinez, Burglary Victim (February 21, 2005)
“Friday when I got in here I came and I saw the door opened and we noticed that the place was burglarized. What they did was that they came and wrenched open the burglar bar. They pried the door open and broke the lock. When I went inside I saw all that stuff was missing. I just recently got all these stuff from the states when I went over there and bought them in November.”
The youth whom police have charged is a fifteen year old boy, whose identity cannot be revealed due to his age. He was arraigned on a single charge of Murder in the Belize Family Court today. He is remanded at the Wagner’s Facility Boot Camp at the Hattieville Prison until March fifth.
It appears as if the youths have been doctrinated by older gang member to do there dirty work.
Someone comment that a draft is a good idea.I agree.I believe that these youth can be taught some skill to can be use to build the infrastruce of Belize.Some can be taught agriculrure.Belize need a twenty year plan before It end up in ruin like Jamacia or Hati;
We can start with CO Op in the poor comunitys to give people the start that they need.
This sad story raises two questions in my mind: how many homicides has Belize had so far this year, and how many were there in 2009?
Where is the Belize i used to know? Violenve have taken away peace and harmony.
all this is bullshit, why can’t his identity be revealed, he KILLED someone in broad daylight with a GUN,
imagine he had a GUN in his HAND, and yet we can’t know who he is , this is CRAZY CRAZY, it seems that these criminals have more right than anybody else in this country, common you guys who write and make this laws it time to change it, before it’s too late.Justice must be done or the people with turn jury and judge and we will execute sentence, like it or not
Why is such a beautiful country with such wonderful people so destructive to each other ???
whats with all the negativity…
Makes me scared to visit my own place of birth.. much less introduce my kids to it.
how is so much guns getting into belize? i wonder what kind of security is at the airport and the border? these people are killing innocent people.
This might come off very ignorant but they don’t value life if I had the power I would creat a battle field and put all of them in it and let them kill them self. I live in NYC and I read the news every night and it’s hard to see our country is like this all because of power and respect of the streets how stupid are these people, innocent people are dieing and families are left with the emptyness and heart ache of losing their love ones over nonsence! GOD BLESS BELIZE for it’s no longer land of the FREE it’s now the land of violence.
People the young man on the street can’t afford to put food on the table, much let buy a gun. So tell me how you think guns get in their hands??? Think….
Thanks Macal, our laws are aimed at possession of guns,
but fall short of punishing those who actually use them in crimes.
If you get caught with ammunition or an unlicensed weapon to
defend your family, you are a criminal… C’mon…
Do the real criminals need a license to get guns?
Do any of the useless gun laws prevent crime?
If a citizen has shown to be law-abiding, let him or her defend themselves.
No one else will. Tell me of one murder our laws have prevented.
From the Drug Trade (primarily cocaine) we get: our main exports that benefit the economy (citrus, tourism (airport etc.), banana), campaign funding … but also, weapons (used to pay small drug agents in running specific territories) and crack cocaine, which lead to senseless gun violence and a corrupt and weak police force.
As long as the known few controlling the drug trade, and unfortunately also some of largest industries in Belize keep operating as they do, we will continue to see more killings by guns.
Why can’t we understand that the rich men in the mansions controlling the shipment of cocaine through Belize is responsible for the weapon in the hand of the ignorant gangsta on the street?
The police, the civilians are all powerless as long as these people remain untouchable and politcal leaders continue to cower under their power.
Arresting these people or giving the DEA a break to get after them might wreak havoc in the short term — key industries will suffer, the economy might be terribly shaken … but isn’t it worth saving the lives of innocent people? Is the upper crust of Belizean society that selfish and self-absorbed?
“if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns” and this is exactly what has happened in Belize. Politicians have constantly been making it harder and harder for Law Abiding Belizeans to own guns claiming that this will reduce crime, our current gun laws are such that the only thing left for them to do is do it like Mexico and put a blanket ban on all guns. Such draconian laws only affect the law abiding since joe-scumbag is a criminal and by definition he doesn’t obey the law. People need to be able to defend themselves. Law abiding Belizeans need to start shooting back and make this scumbags think twice before they do dumb stuff like this.
Please tell me why is it that the government cannot engage the Belize Army and the police dept. to bring order. I visited Belize last summer and one of the things that i notice was that there were many young men just wondering aimlessly, and hanging out. There should be a law that if they are not going to school or working they cannot be in the streets at certain times and if they are caught they should pay a penalty.