17 days ago, 29 year old Trenton Smith - got off a murder charge for the 2007 slaying of Tyrone Castillo who was shot while attending the wake of George "Junie Balls" Mckenzie.
He had been behind bars since 2007 - and this morning - after less than three weeks as a free man, he went to hang out a friend's home on Johnson Street - which is just off Vernon Street.
At 11:15, he was at ease in the home, laying back in a chair with a lighter in his hand - when a gunman walked up and shot him at close range once to the temple below the ear, to the left side of the neck and in the right shoulder.
He died instantly - and police say it was all a set up - they say he was lured to the home to be killed.
So did the streets deliver the justice that the courts could not? Police Press Officer Sergeant Fitzroy Yearwood said they are looking at all angles:
Sgt. Fitzroy Yearwood - Police Press Officer
"Early this morning, sometime around 11:45, police responded to #20 Johnson Street, where they saw Trenton Smith, with apparent gunshot wounds: one to the head and the upper part of the bood. He was transported to the KHMH, where he was pronounced dead. This person was lured to his death, so obviously, he went with someone that he trusted. So we cannot just say that this is not a part of it. And yes, there is an ongoing rivalry between that Ghost Town group and other sets on the south side of Belize."
Isani Cayetano - Channel 5 News
"Following this incident, there was a young man who was arrested at the scene of the crime. Can you tell us if whether or not this person is related to the incident which occurred earlier?"
Sgt. Fitzroy Yearwood
"Isani, that person is detained for question, and we hope that his information would shed some light into this investigation, and eventually lead to an arrest."
Jules Vasquez
"We know that this young man had recently been acquitted of a murder which happened that the Junie Balls wake in 2007. He was acquitted in at the end of July - July 29 I believe. Might these events be related?"
Sgt. Fitzroy Yearwood
"We have several angles that we have to examine before we can say that this is directly retaliation, or whether or not this is related his acquittal from the murder."
So far no one has been charged, but five persons have been detained.
Trenton Smith had endured two trials for the Tyrone Castillo murder. The first was a hung jury, in the second he was acquitted when the main eyewitness disclaimed all knowledge of the facts in his witness statement.
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