Testimonies given by people who lost loved ones to violence
Among the grieving families at the event were musical artist, Aaron Moses, who himself was a gang member and who now uses music to send a positive message. He said he decided a long time ago to change his life because his first hand experiences with prison life did not bode well. Today he was among the mothers, including Danalyn Murrillo, who recently lost her son, Teddy, to gun violence. Both shared their personal experiences.
Aaron Moses, Musical Artist
Aaron Moses
“I grow up eena di streets. I grow up round Euphrates But I live inna Yarborough and like I choose when I gone dah jail fi change my life and talk to di ghetto youths fi noh go through dis problem weh di go on out yah by gangs and heng out cause ih noh mek no sense. My message dah fi stay inna school and get yoh education. I neva listen and I mi rush from school and when I come out yah, all I find out yah dah pain. Last year I get eight shot; I get six shot di first time and den I get two. Di reason why I get shot dah because I grow up eena wah violent area and I does heng out when I mi small. But I noh heng out noh moh. I into my family, I into love and my message dah dis right yah so. Give thanks and praise, this speaks about violence, it speaks about love. Choose di right way, have to choose and dat my aim right now fi spread di message to di Belizean youth dehn. I tell dehn I feel wah lot ah pain and thing, my bredda dehn di get shot every day and thing. I mi wah cud dead right now.”
Danalyn Murrillo, Grieving Mother
“Today is not one of the best days for me but the strength came from knowing that my son had a full twenty-one years of life and we loved him very much and we know that he would have enjoyed us participating in this march today. I marched because I am confident that God will bring a change to our justice system in Belize. It has started already. From my son got murdered, the change has started in Belize.”
Marion Ali
“Have you had any updates about your son’s murder?”
Danalyn Murillo
Danalyn Murrillo
“Well, I am supposed to meet with the police officials this evening to get an update on the case.”
Marion Ali
“So far what have you learned?”
Danalyn Murrillo
“So far, I have nothing to go on except speculations from my end and from the police end. There’s no concrete evidence of any justice for the murder of my child.”
Marion Ali
“I’ve heard the commissioner say that since your son’s murder, they have detained one particular officer three times.”
Danalyn Murrillo
“Well, I don’t know that they have detained that particular officer for the murder of my son. The last time that they detained him, I know it is because of a threat that he made to other youths in front of my yard. So I don’t know if it has—it isn’t related to the murder of my child.”
Marion Ali
“They have also recovered two nine millimeter bullets from your son’s body?”
Danalyn Murrillo
“Definitely, and that will start the change because I am positively sure that those two bullets that were retrieved from my son’s body does not match with the evidence that were gathered from the scene that they say is the crime scene.”
Marion Ali
“So you feel that the policeman is again guilty for your son’s murder?”
Danalyn Murrillo
“Yes, I feel that a policeman is guilty because witnesses in the area did say so.”
Among those who rallied were two activists, Yolanda Schakron and Erwin X who too are spearheading a rally for later this month for the same cause. And this Friday, the Belize Union of Seventh Day Adventist Churches will close its primary schools countrywide to express their indignation to Murillo’s brutal murder.
give me a year,..more or less…n i’ll assure my belizean people that i will work towards a better beilze!!!!! my degree am am presently working on is in fingerprinting and balistics…which are critical evidences dat can bring forth a conviction!!! I will be apart of the change for belize….summer 2011…… i cant wait 2 return home n start my work!!!!!
thanks for you hope that we have with you and hopefully they’ll let you join them or maybe not for the sake of being later found complice in the the wrongfull law authorithies.
that’s the reason why alot of Belizean Americans are scared to visit Belize.
ZIGGY my good man, Be careful because from the reports that i’ve been getting, the police are the ones that are responsible for many crimes in Belize. listen, you alone cannot serve the problems of Belize especially if the police dept. is involved. just be careful.
Here’s the thing, Lisa, our police force needs funding in order to develop and be better, and we’re poor. We can’t afford to pay our men and women well, or buy state of the art equipment etc.; we can’t afford to implement the recommended measures to improve the system. I hope Ziggy will have all he needs to carry out his work when he comes home.
Belize doesn’t have the luxury like the American state system that can apply for $50K+ Federal grants from the Department of Justice to develop their police force.
Also, a bit off topic, but there is also a private investigative organization in the States to assist with anti-terrorism efforts. The founder recognized that the FBI couldn’t do the job alone and that they had their shortfalls.
Here, it’s called the Investigative Project on Terrorism: http://www.investigativeproject.org/
Point is, maybe it’s possible for Belize to develop a private investigative organization. With our very small size, it might be effective.
Here’s another example of a private police force: http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/
I am soo happy to hear that you are excited to return to Belize to do forensics, ZiGGy. I did a course when I was in undergraduate college and was impressed that some seemingly complex links in a case can be worked out with the help of the right tests. Please don’t get discouraged though – when you first get back home, you’ll have a lot of challenges, but your goals can be accomplished.
Final word – with the way the world is, it is terrifying to visit any place in this world. I run just as high a risk of getting shot, raped, kidnapped, drowned, stabbed, crashing, tortured in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, London (where I am now and where every single day I read that somebody”s body got pulled from some pond, or woman attacked near park and left for dead, or two minors stab somebody else)…Washington, France…you name it. I suppose fear is heightened for those Belizean Americans they are just more knowledgeable about the victims and so the effects of such incidents prove to be more terrifying. But don’t be scared to visit – go back to Belize and like ZiGGy, use whatever skills you have to try and get the country moving. Peace.
I went back to belize last year december to spend the Christmas with friends, I was scared to go back to belize, took me more than two years to leave Europe to go back home to belize, and when it was time to leave I was more than happy to do so.
Here I can sleep with my door unlock, and my child can play safely in the garden. The crime rate here is almost non-existence, and I weep for belizeans, especially the kids, seemed like they are all alone in this horrid world where monsters live and kill.
I can only hope that change will come soon, because right now , it seem like the only good news out of belize is no news at all.
Ziggy, I aplaud you for wanting to go back to belize and help out the rest of the people, I look forward
ZiGGy, That sounds great but please always remember that your body and any members of your family will not become bullet proof from education. The gangs and family tribes will come after you once you make the mistake of getting someone convicted with the use of science. It will take a whole collective system change to make it work. Take a survey and learn how many people (upper level and lower) really want change and how many are profitting (making money) from things staying the way they are. The gang members eat, drink and sleep someplace, who is providing the income for these persons to carry on? The Family Tribe situations, how are they controlling the legal system, upper and lower, how are they making money? Follow the money ZiGGy and learn.
no disrespect to Ms Danalynn but she keep saying that people saw this cop kill her son but yet his body wasn’t discovered till like at least 2hrs later.Am i the only one seeing something wrong with that picture? Like seriously….does that sound even remotely right to anyone? I’m not saying this cop didn’t do it but there is something definately wrong here.Why would i watch this happen and leave a man to die?….hmmm!…and i am not directing this comment to the mother because she is probably still in shock but to the other people that keep repeating this statement.Belizeans love to pick up shit and run with it without even analyzing it first….God bless the families of all these victims…and murderers.
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