In our headline story, we told you about the daylight murder which took place late this afternoon, in Downtown Belize City. Well, at around 1:00 this morning, a killer executed 48 year-old Francis Gill at his home in the Coral Grove area of Belize City.
You may remember Gill, since he was featured in our newscast 2 years ago, as the amputee who was persevering even after he lost a leg in an incident in 2014. In that aftermath of that stroke of misfortune, Gill had become an advocate for persons struggling from disability. But, that positive influence is gone tonight, after a shooter waylaid him at his apartment on Barracuda Street, and killed him before he could exit his vehicle.
Daniel Ortiz has that story:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
At around 1:15 a.m. this morning, 48 year-old Francis Gill and his wife, Betsy, were attempting to get out of his grey Nissan Altima Car, seen here. They had only just arrived back home to their apartment for the night, but before the couple could get out of the vehicle, a gunman ambushed the couple, fired multiple shots at them from the shadows.
2 bullets injured Gill, right where he was in the driver's seat. Police say that they found him slumped over the steering wheel on the driver's side with gunshot wounds to the left cheek, and the left side of his neck. His wife, Betsy, was also hit during the barrage of gunfire, and she was injured to her left leg, and her right foot, just above the ankle. She survived the attack, and she was rushed to the KHMH on time. Gill wasn't so fortunate, and he died right inside his car, where he was ambushed.
Vaughan Gill, brother
"I understand that they went to the Princess earlier Sunday evening and they were returning from Princess after 1. And as he shut the vehicle down, the gunman approached and fired through the window. His window was down and so they fired at him. He was caught in the cheek and neck and she was shot in both legs and the gunman ran off. That's as much as we know. Basically it was a direct hit. There was no robbery attempt or anything. Nothing was grab from them or even attempted to take. In fact he had a motion light at the side of the apartment. When he left it was working, but by the time the incident occurred, somebody had broken that. So once you move in the yard, that light would have come on."
Gill was targeted in a manner that is usually reserved for notorious street figures, which makes his family puzzled. They assert that he had no enemies.
Vaughan Gill, brother
"The family is just cuddling together and supporting each other, calling those abroad and letting everybody know what the situation is. No plans have been made. It's just a matter of us accepting the reality of what has occurred. That's an execution and we are trying to understand why. He had no beef for nothing with anybody. The only thing that was pending was this civil case that he had with the gentleman with accident."
That accident that his brother is referring to is the September 2014 confrontation that Gill had with Devon James at the Key Ley Restaurant on Freetown Road. They shared some hard words, and James settled the dispute by jumping into his Chevy Blazer, and he slammed the vehicle into Gill's body, crushing his leg against the wall of the restaurant. He had to get an above the knee amputation, and as soon as he was well enough, he sued James in a civil claim and one a couple hundred thousand dollars in compensation.
Vaughan Gill
"After that unfortunate incident most people thought that losing that leg would have crushed him, but he rebounded on that and in fact took advantage of it. He joined the Disability Association, got involved with them, started to make the best of it. Through the insurance settlement he bought some vehicles and started to flip those. He was managing the apartments where he was. He also took out a civil suit against the gentleman with the accident and won and was in the process of settling that - collecting. Francis had his act together."
We caught up with him in May of 2016, and even from back then, his drive to win the battle against his disability was clearly apparent.
File: May 19, 2018
Francis Gill - Amputee
"From time to time I do have a little discomfort, pain but I try to be positive about it because you can't get medication for everything. So you have to fight through the little pain that you have because it's going to be a constant thing for the rest of my life."
Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Was there ever a point after the accident where you saw a whole individual, someone with all their limbs intact and thought to yourself, that person is wasting his potential?"
Francis Gill - Amputee
"Wow, you see that every day. Me being an amputee, I still try to help myself every day. I don't want to be out there on the street corner begging. I try to do stuff to help myself. It's funny how people take life and take things for granted every day, because I was 43 years old and lost my leg and now it's a total different. Like I said the mental aspect of it is challenging…I could ride my bike. I do many things for myself. Life is not over because you are an amputee. Life has just begun. It's just a slower way you must adjust and learn to do the same things that you used to do. Once you get used to the leg, everything would be easy again. It's not hard because as long as you have life, as long as God gives your health and strength there's nothing out there you can't do being amputated or not."
But now, his positive influence is gone, removed this morning in 1 one cruel act of violence.
Vaughan Gill
"Life is real. We don't expect anything out of it. I'm being honest with you and we are joined in the hundreds of other families for the past few years who have gone through this and don't expect justice."
Police are looking at two possible motives and do have a person of interest they are seeking.
Gill was the father of 3 children: 2 are residents of Belize, while another is in the US.
His family tells us that he was managing the apartment complex on behalf of the owner.
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