Another Belize City street figure gunned down …

During this morning’s ceremonial house meeting, the new Government emphasized that they’ll tackle crime and violence with a special gang unit in the police department, youth and adult empowerment and education initiatives and even a gun court. But those plans are of little comfort to yet another Belize City family whose loved one was callously gunned down on Thursday night. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story.

Marion Ali, Reporting
According to police, twenty-seven year old Herman Morris, also known as “Yagga”, was riding a beach cruiser bicycle through this alley off Mayflower Street around eleven last night when he was gunned down by a lone gunman.

Morris, a resident of Neal Penn Road, had just left the wake of murder victim Raymond Thompson on Lakeview Street and was heading towards his girlfriend’s house on Mayflower Street. Three bullets found their target, striking Morris twice in the neck and once in the head. He fell bleeding to the street in front of a small shop.

Resident of the area, Witness 1
“Me eena mi bed di lay down and me yer wah lotta gunshot.”

Marion Ali
“You seh yoh mi eena yoh bed? How far you live?”

Resident of the area
“Right cross ya, right by dah coconut tree. Me continue lay down. I only di yer everybody di holla somebody get shot, somebody get shot but …”

Marion Ali
“How much shots you hear?”

Resident of the area
“Hmm! Deh mi sound like machine gun to me miss. I just come out this morning when I come report dah work and di lady ask me wash da blood deh from deh fi ah. I just done that.”

Marion Ali
“You mi know the man?”

Resident of the area
“Yeah, I know the young man, always come through yah.”

Resident of the area, Witness 2
“Through yah da real ghost town. We need four, five lamp post through the area man. We need some light cause through yah dark bad and anybody pass through, they could shot yoh understand mi?”

Marion Ali
“And something like this happen through yah before or this ah the first time?”

Resident of the area
“This dah the first time, first time. From even me get fraid fi even want walk no because this neva happen yet. Neva, neva yet from I come yah and I forty-four years old now and nothing like this neva happen through yah yet. From me feel scared right now fi even pass through yah when ih di get dark.”

Marion Ali
“You live eena the neighbourhood?”

Resident of the area
“I live right dah back yah, born and grow yah.”

Marion Ali
“You mi hear the gunshots too?”

Resident of the area
“I mi deh pan di back street when I hear the gunshot.”

While Morris’ aunt concedes her nephew was no stranger to the law, she maintains the deceased had turned his life around.

Aunt of murder victim
“Dah mi wah bad person yes but then ih change ih life wah lot. I middi live fi ih two kids and they tek ah from ih two kids ih unfair.”

Marion Ali
“What you think happened to him?”

Aunt of murder victim
“To tell you the truth I no really know weh gone on with ah. Because ih middi come from wah wake and going if ih two kids fi go home. That dah the understanding weh we get and when we listen they seh they shot ah and ih dead.”

Marion Ali
“You think ih had wah old beef with somebody and that dah weh come back fi haunt ah?”

Aunt of murder victim
“Well, I really can’t seh if da mi wah old beef because ih middi behave ihself long time. But then ih hurt mi fi si how they just kill ah like that, ih really hurt we.”

The murder was a surprise to Agnes Nunez, whose son, seventeen year old Anthony Roches disappeared twenty-three days ago. Nunez said Morris, was helping in the family’s investigations of her son’s disappearance and was at her house last night.

Agnes Nunez, knew murder victim
“He’s a very good friend of my third son Kenrick Nunez and he came here to look for Kenrick because he said that he’s been on the streets and there was some information he needed to give us regarding to Anthony disappearance and the different of names that he had mentioned already to me last night. It was this morning that my son came by, Kenrick came by seven-thirty and I was saying my prayers for my son. I lit a white candle in the room and I took my bible and I was starting to pray. And then Kenrick came into the room and ih seh “ma, ma” so seh weh happen. Ih seh yo know Yagga dead? I seh Kenrick ih can’t be Yagga dead. Ih seh Yagga dead ma, ih seh they shot ah up numerous time eena ih head. I seh Kenrick, Yagga middi wait fi yoh last night up to ten past nine.”

But investigating officers say official inquiries into the Morris murder, the Thompson killing and the disappearance of Roches have been disappointing.

Inspector Hilberto Romero, Deputy O.C., C.I.B
“We have limited information. We are asking the support of the public to come forward with whatever information they have. He was at the wake and was going to his girlfriend’s house when he was approached and shot.”

Marion Ali
“Was this person one person on a bike or…?”

Inspector Hilberto Romero
“The information we have is that it was one person, we are not sure if it was on a bicycle.”

Marion Ali
“was this person also at the wake?”

Inspector Hilberto Romero
“We cannot say because we have not identified any suspect at this time.”

Marion Ali
“What kind of weapon was used in the murder last night?”

Inspector Hilberto Romero
“We believe it was a nine millimetre as we recovered two expended nine millimetre shells at the scene.”

Marion Ali
“No gun?”

Inspector Hilberto Romero
“No firearm was recovered.”

Morris was the father of two children, aged four and two years old. Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.