Well-known street figure executed in Pink’s Alley

Gunshots rang out in the Pink’s Alley neighbourhood on Monday night and in the silence that followed, residents emerged to find their friend and loved one murdered. And while the victim was a husband and father, he was also a notorious street figure and tonight there are fears that his execution will trigger even more deadly violence. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

Marion Ali, Reporting
Around ten last night, former gang leader, George “Junie Balls” McKenzie was gunned down on North Front Street. The shooting occurred in front of the New Chon Sing Chinese restaurant near the mouth of Pink’s Alley where McKenzie resided. According to Officer Commanding the Crimes Investigations Branch, Assistant Superintendent Aaron Guzman, McKenzie’s attacker acted alone.

Aaron Guzman, O.C. C.I.B., Belize City
“Investigations revealed that he was approached from behind by a lone gunman who got off a bicycle and fired a shot, an initial single shot which caught him to the back of the head. Other shots were fired, however, so far the police have noted only one wound and that’s the wound on the head, to the body. We have since gone through the preliminary process of onvestigation, and we are in possession of a warrant in the first instance for one Edward Lord.”

Tonight investigators have put out this wanted poster for Belize City resident, twenty year old Edward Lord in connection to McKenzie’s murder.

Aaron Guzman
“Edward Lord as far as I know is just another youth in the City. I’m not sure if he’s working or if he was working. The connection to Junie Balls I don’t know. So far we have not established definitely a motive but it could be that they had previous confrontation, but so far we don’t have something definitive to say.”

Marion Ali
“Now everybody knows Junie Balls had a very colourful past. Do you think that his past may have come back to haunt him?”

Sylvia Major, Sister-in-law
“Well I wouldn’t say no. I wouldn’t say no, because whenever you try change dah den people get back to you.”

Despite McKenzie’s criminal history, the murder has come as a shock to his friends and family as they say he has been on the road to reform for more than a decade.

Sylvia Major
“George was at the Chon Saan out there by the alley mouth standing outside noh, talking with Diggidap, Fredrick Lynch, noh, and up comes a young man on a bicycle, shot him in his head.”

“Eh jus done drop two eggs and my sista tell ah mek ih come drink ih tea and he seh ih gwen go get ah wah soda fi they eat noh and dat’s when hi gaan. And my sista tell ah go and come back. And ih neva did come back.”

Sylvia Major says while her brother-in-law had been a well known gang banger in the 1990s, he had transformed himself into a positive example to kids in the area.

Sylvia Major
“He went to the Youth for the Future. He get involved with the Youth for the Future. He even get involved with the football team at the M.C.C. Grounds and bring out fih he own team with lone lee children. He even have some people come in from the States, some white man come in from the States and have church service through yah fih the childrens them. He also sent children to school. They come to him and he help dem, assist them noh, in schooling and stuff. Children weh cannot go to school, weh cannot afford fu go to school, he did it for them.”

Assistant Superintendent Aaron Guzman, says while they still are not sure what the motive was, the Police Department is making all efforts to discourage any type of retaliation from McKenzie’s friends and associates in Majestic Alley.

Aaron Guzman
“Several senior officers were out last night up to the wee hours of the morning And since then we have met again since eight o’ clock this morning; and we have made some adjustments. We put some extra patrols in place and we will definitely keep those extra patrols out until we deem it necessary to scale down.”

According to police, several eyewitnesses have been detained for questioning.
McKenzie was the father of two sons, George Junior and Kiffer. He had been living with his long-time girlfriend, Melissa at their Majestic Alley residence. His funeral date has not yet been set as yet. Reporting for News Five, I am Marion Ali.

According to our sources, wanted suspect Edward Lord was last in the news after he was charged along with another man, Darren Banks, for the murder of Sherwin Requena. The charges were later dropped against both men.