Cayo shooter sentenced to two years in prison

Two years ago, an argument between two parents in a Cayo schoolyard escalated to violence and left a man and a small child injured. But today justice has been meted out. In April 2005, sixty-seven year old Alberto Reyes was charged with attempted murder and use of deadly means of harm after he shot Albert McDonald in the neck. At the time of the shooting, both men were on the St. Edmond Campion Roman Catholic School grounds in Teakettle Village and the other victim, McDonald’s young nephew, was grazed by the same bullet that struck his uncle. Police investigations would later reveal that the two men had been locked in a family feud. During the trial, Reyes told the court, “I didn’t want to kill him. I didn’t want to injure him. I wanted to miss him.” However, the prosecution produced the initial statement Reyes gave police in which he confessed to shooting the victim in defence of his daughter. In mitigation testimony, friends and family of the accused begged for leniency, describing Reyes as a hardworking family man. Reyes took the stand again, telling the court, “I am very sorry about what I did to him. I am asking the court to please forgive me and I am also saying sorry to Mr. McDonald … I will never break the law again.” In the end, Justice Adolph Lucas sentenced Reyes to spend the next two years in jail. Douglas Carr prosecuted the case, while defence attorney was B.Q. Pitts.