He helped his neighbour … only to be shot dead

A Belize City man who came to the aid of a neighbour in trouble has been rewarded with a bullet to the head. News Five’s Marion Ali reports on the nation’s latest homicide.

Marion Ali, Reporting
As if the January murder of her brother, Norman Reyes Junior, was not bad enough, two months later a young woman must deal with another tragic loss, that of her boyfriend. He was shot dead before her eyes shortly after seven on Saturday night at their apartment on Partridge Street.

The girlfriend who prefers not to be identified, told us she and thirty-one year old Raymond Thompson Junior, better known as “Quincy”, had just come home and were about to settle in for the night when they heard a commotion in the adjacent room.

Girlfriend of Murder Victim
“We put on the T.V. and Dateline mi di show and then we start talk bout weh mi di show pan T.V then I hear the gial weh deh gone jack seh Boy left mi lone, left lone mi phone. We still di sit dong deh we neva think nothing bout it and she seh it again. She seh boy please mi lone, left lone mi phone. And we still neva move till wah lee while after she holla help, they di kill mi pickney, they di choke ah and then he grab the machete and run outside.”

Thompson decided to investigate what was happening, but when they saw a gun, they retreated. That was when Thompson became the gunman’s target. .

Girlfriend of Murder Victim
“Two ah wi about fi walk weh when di boy with the gun just run up into me and I move back way towards the backdoor then ih gone to my boy and he tell ah boy da dat you deh pan and he tun round fi walk weh so I about fi follow deh now when I see he just shot my boy eena ih headback.”

The gunman would also fire a second shot at Thompson’s girlfriend, who ran through the back door. Owner of the apartment building, Lloyd Flowers, said he and his family were upstairs in their house next door when he too heard the screams for help.

Lloyd Flowers, Owner, Apartment Complex
“She seh Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Lloyd, help, help. Remember dis dah my place. These people under my protection.”

But by the time Flowers could get to his backdoor to see what was happening, he heard the unexpected.

Lloyd Flowers
“Gial and by di time I reach deh all I hear da BOW! One gunshot ah hear. He gaan soh. But den if I had wah gun I would a mi shot he because his bicycle deh right pan deh dirt out deh, soh ih had to pick up his bicycle before he move off and I come downstairs in time. But my concern was to dis fella weh get hurt.”

Marion Ali
“Did you see the gun?”

Lloyd Flowers
“No. I noh see he, I only see ih back.”

Marion Ali
“Soh you noh even know if da one of your past tenants?”

Lloyd Flowers
“I don’t even know.”

Another of Flowers’ tenants who also wished to remain off camera had just come in from the laundromat. She said when she heard the screams for help she cracked her door open and peeped from behind it.

Eyewitness to Murder
“When deh si di gun two ah deh tek deh own direction. He mi di turn so fi go back eena di room and his girl the other way fi go to the back door. And he mi just mek two, three step cause he end up deh by the picture deh when one shot gone out, one shot. To me I mi feel like ih mi fake cause dat da di first time I di si anything like that. Just di one shot. I mi think ih neva catch di boy none at all. But di boy start to fall down and when he start to fall that dah when I hurry gone in and close the door. Because he mi deh front of me all the while I guess di bally neva si me. He neva get fi si me cause I mi de right di stand up”

Marion Ali
“But you saw him?”

Eyewitness to Murder
“I see half ah ih face.”

Thompson’s family are hoping that because at least three people got a glance of the gunman’s face, there a good chance of bringing him to justice.

Marsha Thompson, Sister of Murder Victim
“Deh chance my bredda outta ih life, di person who pull the trigger ah da gun cause ih shot a from back on. He da noh trouble man, he no fast with people, he noh gang bang. Fi he name noh even deh dah station. He work seven days a week. As long as fi he work have extra fi he du he wah do it.”

“If somebody di look fi fight or something he woulda like just get them and advise deh dat that noh good weh yoh di do. Cause den especially wah woman and pickni bawl out fi help he will turn ih head and look. He will turn ih head and look cause same way he got sisters and he always seh he noh want nobody chance none ah fi he sista deh.”

Flowers says he wants to restore safety at the building, but more importantly, peace of mind among his remaining tenants.

Lloyd Flowers
“I di ask myself what can I do? Because I can’t violate people’s rights. Suppose you live in her and I put lock pan di gate and seh I wah lock di gate. And even if I give you wah key and give everybody wah key deh could jump dat. So maybe like yoh seh, wah camera. Wi could put in wah camera, yes.”

Police have not filed any charges against a suspect they have in custody. Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.

The killing of Raymond Thompson is number nineteen for the year.