7 News Belize

Man Killed In OW - Father Speaks Frankly About The Hope and Heartbreak of A Wayward Son
posted (December 15, 2017)
There was a murder in Orange Walk Town early this morning in front of a popular night spot. The victim is 35 year-old Jaime Pelayo, better known as "James" or "Doggy", and his own father agrees that he was notorious figure in the Town.

So, he may have had more than his fair share of enemies, but his family believes that it was not his troubled past that finally caught up with him. They say it was a random shooting. Our news team travelled north today and found his father remarkably lucid, plainspoken and heartbroken about his son's troubled past:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Just before 35 year-old Jaime Pelayo Jr. killed this morning, he and a friend were having a few drinks at D's Gym Sports Bar & Grill, formerly known as Butchy's.

Police say that Pelayo was standing on the street in front of the business place, but his family's information is that he was on this wooden verandah when he was blasted in the chest by a man armed with a shotgun.

A few hours after the incident, when we caught up with his dad, the former soldier, he was processing the death of his second born son.

Jaime Pelayo Sr - Father of the Deceased
"I have buried over 60+ people because I was a military personnel for almost 35 years. So, every year, I have 1 or 2 to bury, but I have never buried one of my own. I knew what to do then, but now that it's mine, sometime it's difficult to know what to do now."

Pelayo was nearing the end of a 15 hour work-shift when the phone calls came rushing in that his son had been fatally injured. He learned that Jaime Jr., better known as "James" or "Doggy", was at his home with his wife and daughter left at around 3:30 AM to go partying with friends.

Jaime Pelayo Sr.
"And suddenly shots rang out, and unfortunately, he was the one that got hit. I would like to point out though that this has nothing to do with gang banging. This had nothing to do with anyone going to look for him etc. I was told by another reliable source who I spoke to before I came home that the fellow who did it was drunk, and he just went into his vehicle, pulled out a 16-gauge shotgun and started to fire rounds at the people, and James was the one who got the most hits in his chest, straight into his heart."

Police say that he was talking to 2 women on the street when the gunman pulled out his weapon and fired 3 shots at them. One of the women was grazed by the pellets of the shotgun blast, but Pelayo was hit in the chest, injuries which claimed his life shortly afterwards.

So, while his dad insists that this was a random shooting, he said that he had been preparing himself mentally for the day he would get that call no parent ever wants to receive. We found a father who loved his son, but who was not the least bit delusional about the man his child grew up to be.

Jaime Pelayo Sr.
"You know, as a father, with a son who is on the street - because he is my son. So, I could talk about my son who I want. My son was a really bad egg. Even the police was scared of him. The police had to go with rifles, and about 6, 8, 9 of them just for him. They were scared as hell of James. And I told my wife. I said, 'You know something one of these days, it's going to happen, and when it happens, it happens. So, what I did, I prepared myself for this day."

His dad says that his trajectory toward a life on the streets started after his mother took him and his brothers to live in the States.

Jaime Pelayo Sr.
"When James was a little boy, his mother took them - 3 of them to the States, and there is where his problems began. He was deported from the States, unknowingly, back to Belize. But, I get to understand that his mother did that. His mother deported him back to Belize, but she did that with the loving heart for him, so that they don't kill him over there, because over there, you either join a gang, or you get beat up badly everyday. So, he had to join this group, and they used to use him to go and do robberies in buildings because he is small and slim. So, they used him to get into the windows, and then, he goes and open the doors, and everybody big goes in through the door. He came back, he stayed with me, and I sent him to school. But again, friends is something very serious, you know, bad, bad, bad, bad. And he made friends with the wrong people. I tried to go back in time. You know, I sit down, I talk to my wife - because she was with me when James was living with us. We talked and said, 'What the hell happened'. You know? Where did we go wrong, where, where, where? We just can't find it. James had his ups and downs with the law, really ups and downs with the law. And I have spoken to him, more than once, stop doing what you are doing. But, he has a tendency that if he makes friends with you, and if you commit a crime, he will save you, and he will go. He has that - I don't know why he does that. He went to jail 3 years for somebody. He did nothing, but he went to jail for 3 years. Then, he went back another year, then he went back 2 years, and 3 year, and 1 year, and 6 months. You know, I make a joke of it. It's my son; he's my son. I love him very much. I make a joke of it that you know, he best get a warden's uniform because he goes there more than the wardens."

So, while this Jaime Sr. is unflinchingly honest about his son's life choices, this father remembers that he had redeeming qualities - which made this father hopeful that his son would leave the street life behind, and focus on his family.

Jaime Pelayo Sr
"James is a very loving son. He comes to me. We chat in peace. Before he goes, He wants me to hug him."

As you heard in our story, Jaime Pelayo Jr. leaves behind his 4 year-old daughter and his common-law wife. His family tells us that there had been 5 attempts on his life. He was shot in the abdomen during one of those attempts.

His father told us that he has been reliably informed that they have one man in detention. Police refused to confirm or deny that information.

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