Attempted firearm theft ends in bloodshed
Over the weekend police also filed charges in connection to last Thursday’s deadly shooting. Tonight nineteen year old Leon Gray and twenty-two year old Brandon Smith are jointly accused of Murder, Attempted Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Deadly Means of Harm, Dangerous Harm, and Possession of Prohibited Firearm and Ammunition. Smith was additionally charged with Driving a Motor Vehicle without a Valid Driver’s License. He has already pled guilty to that offence. The duo was arrested in connection to the killing of twenty-five year old Goldborne “Leon” Beeks and injuries sustained by Marvin Reyes. The victims had been working at a cabinet shop on Krooman Road on Thursday morning when two armed men rode into the business and opened fire. Beeks was hit in the back of the head and died at the scene. Reyes was shot three times: once in the abdomen, once in the shoulder and in the right leg. Following their arraignment in Magistrate’s Court this afternoon both accused men were remanded to Hattieville Prison until April seventh.
Last May, former traffic officer Glen Rivero was fined for knocking down and killing a teenager. But following the verdict, the fifty-seven year old went back to working with the Belize City Council even though his driver’s license had been revoked for a year. Well tonight Rivero is in the news again, not for a traffic offence, but because someone shot him. According to Rivero, he was at his home at the corner of Lakeview and Logwood Streets around five on Sunday morning when there was a knock at the door. But the person on the other side was armed with a shotgun. Rivero tried to close the door but the pellets pierced the wood and left the victim bleeding from five different places. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he is admitted in stable condition. Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of Edwin Bardalez of Mayflower Street in connection to the incident. Investigators believe the motive of the shooting was robbery as Rivero is the licensed owner of a firearm.
