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This past weekend saw another round of violence with two murders and a death investigation following the discovery of a body.
The first murder occurred on Saturday evening, and like the two murder incidents last week, it involved a licensed firearm.
30-year-old Damion Baptist spent the day in Grace Bank with a woman he'd recently started seeing. As they were headed to his home in Burrell Boom, her ex-boyfriend began pursuing them on the highway, firing off gunshots.
While it is unclear exactly who his target was, Baptist was killed by a single bullet to the head.
Today we spoke with his mother, as well as the woman whose life may still be in danger. Courtney Menzies has this story.
This video was taken moments before 30-year-old Damion Baptist was shot dead while driving on the highway.
He was in this red Ford Fusion with 29-year-old Laneedrah Dawson, whom he had just started dating last month. Dawson's ex-boyfriend, 35-year-old Jamie Young began chasing them from Maxboro to Ladyville in this pickup truck, now in police custody.
Young eventually fired two shots from his licensed firearm, one of which killed Dawson. His mother said she spoke to him just before the chase began.
Voice of: Shelmadine Baptist, Mother of Deceased "I spoke to him minutes before the incident because he called and said he was coming home, he said, mommy I'm on my way home. And I told him, how far away are you? And he said, I'm right by Maxboro, he said I'll reach soon. I said, okay. I hung up the phone and then he didn't call or come. I guess it was right there that the incident happened cause he told me he was in Maxboro."
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased "We spent the day here, it was my nephew's birthday. Everything was going well, we left, we passed Mr Young's house, we stopped at my grandmother, spent 5 minutes the most at my grandmother's and we went, we were going to his house in Boom. And after we passed Maxboro junction on that long stretch it all became so crazy, hectic. Mr Young was driving the opposite direction towards us, he was at his home when we passed him so he had to leave when I stopped at my grandmother's house. He ran us off the road, cranked his gun at us, pushed his hand out the window and cranked it at us. Mr Baptist sped up, he was like, we need to reach the police station. We called the police station, we told them we were coming under speed because they were tailing us, firing shots. We crashed into that lamppost and no police was in sight."
The first shot his the passenger side window. That's when Baptist told Dawson to put the seat back and to stay low. However, the pair met traffic near Tubal Institute, causing them to drive on the shoulder of the highway. It wasn't long after that that the final bullet was shot.
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased "When we reached by the RC school, the next bullet went off and the next thing I knew, we were driving into the lamppost. That's when I looked over and I saw Mr Baptist's head down, and that was it."
Voice of: Shelmadine Baptist, Mother of Deceased "My daughter called me and she told me, she said, mommy, I said what happened? She said, where are you? I said, I'm coming with your brother. She said, mommy, he doesn't look good. So I said, how you mean he doesn't look good? She said, mommy he got shot in his head and the pulse is very weak. So I said, okay we're on our way. And I think the Boom Bridge, or little bit across the Boom Bridge, she called me back and said he died, she said, mommy, he's gone."
But why did Young go after them? According to Dawson, she and Young ended their 13 year relationship last year. Since then, she said he's been stalking her.
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased "Mr Baptist was at the wrong place at the wrong time because everywhere I go, that young man follows. Everywhere I go he follows, every time I pass his house, I bet I look in the mirror, he will be behind a good five, ten minutes afterwards."
"We knew the situation, Mr Baptist knew the situation so we were always looking behind and hoping… just always being careful."
Courtney Menzies: "Have you tried, you said you made reports, did you try for a restraining order in the past?"
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased "Yes, our court date would have been on Wednesday of this week."
Reporter: "Had he ever threatened you yourself personally?"
Voice of: Laneedrah Dawson, Girlfriend of Deceased "Mr Young, he did say if he can't have me, nobody can have me. This was in the report I made at the police station on February 26th."
"It's hard… deep inside, it's just… I wish I could just get Baptist back."
And Baptist's family shares those sentiments, especially the four brothers and two sisters he left behind.
Voice of: Shelmadine Baptist, Mother of Deceased "I'm a strong woman, I always try to be strong for my sons, my sons are everything for me. My sons are very strong but because it's one of them, you know, they easily fall apart. Hurt, I know my sons are really hurt, I can't explain the hurt they feel. So I said to my friend, Jamie doesn't know what he did to my family. He just chanced my son out of his life."
"Damion was, I wouldn't say a perfect child, but for me, Damion was a perfect child. Damion's a little bit of everything. Damion and everybody get along, Damion and everybody gets along. Damion is always running jokes, always making jokes of everybody, making jokes of his granny, make jokes of me, make jokes of his sisters."
"He and everybody are friends, if Damion comes and says he doesn't like you, then you did him something really out of the way."
And now his son and two young daughters will have to grow up without their father.
While police have Young's vehicle, he is still on the run, still has a gun, and has reportedly made threats against Dawson.
And while the Baptist murder suspect is still at large, the second Saturday night murder happened only four hours later near Madam Liz Avenue in the Port Loyola area.
26 year old Liston Williams was gunned down as he rode his motorcycle. The compol believes that Williams may have been murdered by one of his very own acquaintances.
ACP Hilberto Romero, OC Eastern Division "On Saturday the 16th day of March 2024, around 9:50 PM police responded to shots fired at Madam Liz in Belize city. Upon arrival they found Liston Williams with gunshot injuries he was taken to the KHMH where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Investigations reveal that Liston Williams was in the area when he was approached by a male person who fired for real shots, causing his fatal injuries. Several persons are detained pending investigations regarding this murder."
"Investigations revealed that this is an internal feud with persons from the area that led to this shooting."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Again like I said, some of the killings, we are seeing or majority of them are friends against friends we believe that Mr. Williams was killed by his own associates. I'm not going to say who, but his own associates are the ones who are responsible for his killing."
Reporter "Any suspects or persons detained?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We do have suspects at this time, and I think some of them are detained yes."
Reporter "Motive?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "We do not have a definitive motive at this time, but like I said he was killed by his own associates."
The UDP today issued a release saying, quote, "In the last week alone there has been eight murders in seven days as well as countless other attempted murders, robberies and sanctioned shootings targeting women and children….The UDP strongly urges the Briceno/Musa government to start by going after all assault rifles and guns licensed by the state to immature, irresponsible and even criminal individuals in the now exposed gun license hustle that was commonplace within Belize Police Department….the UDP strongly recommends an immediate and firm ban on all forms of assault rifles in this country as well as new licensing requirements designed…to take guns out the hands of immature, mentally unstable and criminal individuals."
Last week the Port of Belize was immobilized when stevedores refused to work - and made specific demands from the port's new owners - which is the government of Belize.
On Thursday - Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde got them to go back to work - on a promise that the Prime Minister would meet with them on Monday.
The stevedores - represented by the Christian Workers Union - wanted two things: a redundancy settlement payout and the assurance that the size of their work gangs would remain the same.
Tall demands - but rolling on a wave of popularity after the municipal elections, the Prime Minister was in a giving mood today. 7news was at his office in Belize City:
Today the stevedores and their CWU leadership arrived at the Prime Minister's Charter House office just after 2:00 pm - to a cordial and relaxed atmosphere. They were followed shortly after by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Tourism.
About 40 minutes later we were called into the conference room - to a room full of smiles
Niceties were exchanged across the floor and the mood was more than cordial, it was friendly.
So much so that while the Ministers were on one side and the stevedores and union on the other.
To help the cameras, thePRimeMinister switched sides and went to sit with the unions.
With all that goodwill we weren't surprised to hear:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We have an agreement, and basically we've been working on the number of gang size, the numbers of hours that we're going to be working in and we believe that we have an agreement at this moment."
Leonora Flowers, President - CWU "Thanks for the new offer and the way it has been set out. We believe it's palatable for our members, in fact we were given certain instructions before we arrived for this meeting and have found that the met with our requirements, so our member will be pleased with the response that were taken back to them."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "There's a general consensus from both sides that these work stoppages is not in the interest of no one, that it does not help the Christian Workers Union or the stevedores, nor does it help the port of Belize, nor the country of the Belize."
"We recognize now that there is a competition, that some boats are threatening that if this is not sorted out that they will consider going south to the Big Creek Port to offload their cargo. So I believe that today we managed to settle pretty much all of these issues."
"We will be signing that formal agreement tomorrow. But basically we've agreed to the number of gangs that we're going to have. How many members per gang which we also have agreed are that the big ships will be able to have two gangs working for the big ship, so that the ships would no longer have to wait until the gang rests and come back to offload."
Leonora Flowers, President - CWU "It's a step in the right direction for us. I can say today that we have seen a difference in the communication, a different in discussions, and so we feel that we're on the right track. We want to say thanks to the government for doing this."
But what's the bottom line on the much contested redundancy payment? Well, it's an ex gratia payment and its going to the house:
Jules Vasquez "Where do both parties stand on the issue of redundancy today?"
Leonora Flowers, President - CWU "We have passed that stage with the payment of gratuitous payment made today, the offer from the PM, our members are ready to relinquish that issue. We've passed that stage."
Jules Vasquez "Is the offer more than the 1.5 million previously discussed?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "We've agreed to 1.6 million, because one of the members reached out to us saying that they have this huge legal bills and so with the approval of cabinet approval of another 100,000. But I believe that the DPM will support me on that, so that the package is 1.6 million."
Jules Vasquez "How do you all feel emotionally about the change in perspective where you're not working with someone who's actively trying to destroy you?"
Leonora Flowers, President - CWU "The change in perspective is a good one. They are not trying to destroy us. We are in Belize and Belize os for Belizeans and you can't get more Belizean that the people of south side, You can't feel more Belizean than that and so this is where our stevedores come from. This is the heart of Belize we are talking about. The water front workers goes way back. Belize City has been built around and on them. So it's a good feeling today to know today that government has bought back the port and we are hoping that we are going to get an opportunity to work towards its development."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Today is a win for everybody. It's a win for the stevedores and the Christian Workers Union and for the labor movement. It's a win for Port of Belize, Its win for the consumers, and it's a win for the government of Belize."
The verbal agreement is with their attorneys and both sides are expected to sign tomorrow.
And, speaking of Ports, we also pressed the Prime Minister on his offhand comment on Friday that the now government owned Port of Belize - might once again be in the running as a cruise port. This, of course, is after the Ashcroft Alliance's Waterloo project at that same port was twice rejected by NEAC.
Today the PM said, it's possible:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Port of Belize is going to do a cruise port. I'm just saying that these are the three options that we have, that we've always had. And if the State Bank gets its house in order and they start, they already have been cleared."
"Now Portico is having their issues. I mean, that's their issue, it's not the government to get involved. Now, if the Port Of Belize, and I am not saying that they have because they have not come with anything, But if they were one day to come and say, well, we do have a plan, and believing that that is a part of how they can move, make this work properly and they meet the criteria that's demanded from the NEAC, and they have the partners, the cruise ship partners working with them. Who am I to say no?"
Briceno said he expects to meet later this week with the ousted principal of the Stake Bank project, Mike Feinstein after that project went into receivership last week.
And now for an update on the broad daylight double murder that occurred in broad daylight at the Belmopan Market last week. When we spoke to the Prime Minister last week he told us that Robert Joseph and his son were both detained for questioning, which resulted in a double murder charge being levied against the father. Now, his son who was also present at the time of the shooting - is surely a person of interest - reports say that the father believed the family he attacked had tried to poison his son.
But, suddenly that son is gone. The Compol disclosed today that he has been handed over to US authorities:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The gentleman's son is in the US. He was wanted in the US and has been sent back to the US to face charges that he was wanted for out there."
Reporter- "In the US?, ok so it's the Belize police that sent him back when he was detained here for questioning in relation to this incident?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "He was detained, and he agreed to be taken back to the US."
The police department had its hands full this weekend. Apart from responding to murders and other crimes, officers present at the William Dawson Peace Cup on Sunday at the MCC grounds, found themselves having to break up a large brawl that broke out between rival groups at the venue. The game was between Fort George and Kelly Street - but when some women started fighting in the stands, the peace cup ended far from peaceful. It resulted in a melee and police had to fire warning shots to restore order.
The Compol spoke with us today on how his officers ended up handling it.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I would not venture to say that it is the fault of the police. At the end of the day like you said, the police are engaged in doing interventions through sports. What we have been doing through the William Dawson tournament, as well as the William Dawson piece cup which is the football activity one was a basketball, and now we have the football is to bring the different groups from rivaling areas together with a view to ensure that we can do interventions with them through sports. And yes, of course these are people who have issues with each other, and it is anticipated that things may go wrong or not according to how we expect, and the police will be there to ensure that they keep the peace and neutralize whatever may occur. And I think that the police did a good job and making sure that they contained the issue and prevented it from escalating further. So I must commend the police officers for a job well done. It could have been worse, but again due to the good work of the police it was neutralized."
And if you look closely at the brawl videos that have been bouncing around on social media these past few days, you may notice that the LIU brawl wasn't the only fight that broke out over the weekend with numerous female participants. A Saturday night swing off in Shisha Lounge also caught the attention of the Compol. He commented today - on what he calls distasteful:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It is very dreadful to see a woman are behaving in such a way normally in society we look up to women all of us came from women, and we expect that the woman behaviors that are worthy of being emulated, but when you see women behaving in such a way, it is very distasteful. And whenever I get the footages, I would send them to the police and tell them to arrest and charge. We cannot have a society where people are engaging in unlawful fight in public, and go unpunished. That cannot be the order of the day."
And if you've been out on the social setting long enough you'll know that at times these fights between women can get out of hand and require police intervention. Does this mean that there should be an increase in women police officers at these events? The compol says that there is no need for it, because all police officers have a right to detain citizens who are acting out in public, regardless of their gender.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "There is nothing in law that precludes a male police officer from resting or detaining a woman; the law precludes the male police officer from conducting a search on the woman's person. And so if there is a woman who behaving in such a way in public that requires the police to intervene and detain her, the police man can do so, and there is no issue with that."
But is there a pre-emptive solution to minimizing the number of public brawls, scuffles and altercations, at large public events? The compol says that they are looking at increasing the charges and penalties for unlawful fighting in public.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Seemingly is a very challenging year for us. in terms of policing, we are seeing many unconventional typed murders murders that emanate from the social setting, where friends are killing, friends, and murders emanating from the domestic settings where families are or friends are killing, families, and friends. it is not the gang related type of killings that we are accustomed to seeing and so that is pausing some challenges for us because it is difficult to predict. nonetheless, we continue to look to see what we can do to be able to address these issues and with these types that we are seeing breaking out in different areas again, alcohol seems to be taking over the lives of some people and when they go on consumed these alcohol, they tend to behave in such a way that they would not normally behave in circumstances, and that again is a challenge for us. I looked at the fight in front of Shisha over the weekend. And that Again, we can see where a number of ladies engaged in fights, and from what I am told, they are fighting over basketball players, who came from abroad that they don't even know. It makes you really wonder what we are coming to. Nonetheless, some of them are in custody and they will be charged and will be taken before the courts today. I am proposing to the cabinet to increase the penalties for persons engage in unlawful fighting in public so I think that the current penalties which are stipulated in the laws is too minuscule and so there is a need for us to upgrade that and hopefully that can serve as a deterrent for some people to know that if they engage and unlawful fighting in public That it is going to cost their pockets a good amount of money."
After the town board elections in Corozal where the ruling party got over 60% of the vote it should have been one big party for the PUP this weekend as their new council was sworn in.
But, instead, amid the festivities party members have been butting heads and publicly feuding on Facebook. Most notably, area representative for Corozal Bay Elvi Vega Samos made a post saying that she was assaulted and her husband's life was threatened by one of her own party members. And within hours, her party members stuck back with some acid posts against her - saying she was the aggressor.
Ugly stuff, and today we asked the Prime Minister and the Compol for more information and perspective on the situation:
Jules Vasquez "Sir, how do you feel about all this noise in Corozal Bay, these unfortunate Facebook posts and threats and allegations?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I think success brings its own problems and people are getting very excited about wanting to represent, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's unfortunate that we have this kind of behaviour from both sides."
"I believe that we are one party, we are one family and if we have any problems, we should try to work it internally and not outside."
Jules Vasquez "Have you cautioned all parties to..."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "Well, that's a matter for the chairman that deals with these matters and I've already told him that he needs to... well, when I spoke with him over the weekend, he said he'll be looking into this and see how he can calm things down for us to be able to move forward."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It's a matter that yes, the police is looking into up in the north. It was brought to my attention and we're seeing what can be done about the matter."
Reporter "The gentleman who Ms. Samos alleges assaulted her, he's saying that Ms. Samos and her husband basically sort of clipped him while they were driving."
"He said that when he went to the police station, the police told him he wouldn't be able to make a complaint due to that incident. You're able to comment on that and say whether that's true?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I'm not aware of that at all. I know that our report was made and the police is looking into the matter."
Powerlifting may be an emerging sport in Belize, but some of the members of the Belize Powerlifting Association are already medal-winning athletes. And now, they're preparing to go international once again. Their third annual national championships was held over the weekend, and our news team was there for the women's only competition. Courtney Menzies has this story.
Following the squats, the women also competed in bench presses and deadlifts. At the end, Gonzalez took home the title of the female national champion.
Brain Yellowman Audinett - he was part of the UDP's losing slate in the municipal elections and it's a double loss for him - because he today lost his job!
Yellowman - who can only be described as a UDP soldier - was reportedly fired today from the party secretariat.
Yellowman is also a senior street captain in leader Shyne Barrow's Mesopotamia constituency - so we asked his party leader if he had fired Yellowman.
Barrow told us the matter was dead with by the airy secretary general - who we could not reach for comment.
Since the company has no public relations presence, we today asked the Prime Minister if Ivan Telecom is on the way out:
John Briceno, Prime Minister "What has happened is that the CEOs Contract is coming to an end. I think it's in May and in the contract they need, the board needs to give notice whether the contract is going to be renewed or not. If he's not given notice, then it is an automatic rollover So what the borard has decided to do is to make an announcement for for the position of CEO. It doesn't mean that a present CEO cannot apply. Of course, the present CEO can apply, and if anybody else wants to apply well, then that is their right to apply for the job."
Jules Vasquez "You have some experience in these matters. You would know that three weeks, which is the portal opening, you can't get anyone to take over a very heavy job like that, anyone suitable to take over a heavy job like in three weeks, so should we then conclude that its just a formality and the present CEO will be renewed."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I don't know. I think that, I was not aware of the portal, but I do believe that a number of people have been looking at the possibility of that job being opened. So the ones that are interested, I'm sure that they need less than two weeks to be able to put in their application."
Jules Vasquez "We know the CEO of utilities, might he be one of the persons who might have an interest in it?"
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I've heard that he may probably may have some interest. As you know, he has worked at both Smart and BEL. He has an engineering degree and an MBA. So from just the looks of it, you could take that he probably would fit the profile, but he would have to go through the process."
Jules Vasquez "Would he be politically favor? It's you who hire the man as CEO, sir."
John Briceno, Prime Minister "I guess, I don't know. I think we need to move away from political favor to more to if he would be adequate for the job, probably on the face of it you would want to think so. But when you go through the actual interview process, that's when the board will be able to decide who would be the person best suited for the job."
On Friday we showed you the speeches coming out of the opening of this year's Commercial Expo at Spanish lookout. Well the event was much more than speeches.
It saw up to 45,000 visitors at the countryside park, a record breaking number. Exhibitors from all over the country participated in the expo hosted by the Business Chamber of Spanish Lookout. In a press release issued by the chamber today they stated that " The Business Chamber of Spanish Lookout is grateful to all the participants from exhibitors to visitors that made this Expo a safe and memorable one. The Business Chamber of Spanish Lookout is honored to be able to provide a platform for small, medium, and large businesses to exhibit their products and services to a vast audience.