Businessman convicted in death of employee

A Belize City businessman has been found guilty of manslaughter. After deliberating for about two hours, a jury of eight men and one woman came back to court with the unanimous verdict against thirty-four year old Edward Reyes. Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh has set March seventeenth as the date for mitigation and sentencing.

On January twenty-second, 2005, Reyes, the proprietor of Prime Cut Meats on Central American Boulevard, became involved in an altercation with his employee, fifty-one year old Norman Ferguson. A struggle ensued, during which Reyes pulled out his licensed nine-millimetre pistol and fired a shot at Ferguson. The bullet caught Ferguson in the chest and he later died. During trial Reyes maintained that he fired the shot in self-defence and he never intended to kill Ferguson. Reyes was represented by attorneys Ellis Arnold, Michel Chebat, and Lutchman Sooknandan. The case was prosecuted by Kamar Henry.