7 News Belize

Family Loses Two Members To Murder Days Apart
posted (May 13, 2019)
And from that killing in Corozal, we turn now to Saturday night's murder in Belize City.

21 year-old Denzel Flowers, a resident of the Jane Usher Boulevard area, was shot and killed on Saturday night right in front of his family's home on Central American Boulevard, in the Port Loyola area.

He went across the street to buy food, and while he was waiting, an unknown gunman caught him off-guard and shot him multiple times before anyone realized what was happening. His family heard the barrage of gunshots from inside their home, and they rushed out onto the street, only to find him bleeding to death.

Our news team has been following this story, and Daniel Ortiz found out that this family has been hit by a double tragedy in just a few days:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
This afternoon, when the press caught up with the grieving family of 21 year-old Denzel Flowers, they were distressed that they were not allowed to properly mourn the tragic killing of BDF volunteer, Hamed Guzman, before yet again, another male in their family fell victim to gun violence.

Lissette Casasola - Sister of the Deceased
"We're finding it really hard right now. We recently buried one of my brothers-in-law, and for this to happen, it's just really really hard."

Police say that at around 7:00 on Saturday night, Flowers went right across the street from his family's home on Central American Boulevard. He went to buy food at T & R Grocery Store and Fast Food business place, which almost faces his family's yard across the street.

While he was there, an unknown gunman ambushed him, and shot him several times before fleeing the scene.

ASP Alejandro Cowo - OC, CIB, Belize City
"Police visited the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where they observed 27 year-old Denzel Flowers with gunshot wounds to his body. What police understand is that Denzel flowers was standing in front of a business located in the Central American Boulevard by the Port of Belize area, when he was approached by someone, who fired shots at his direction, causing several injuries to his body, causing his death, almost instantly."

Lissette Casasola
"My relatives who live here, they were at home. They heard the shots. When they peeped out, they then saw it was him."

"By the time we reached the hospital, he was already dead."

Investigators, as well as family and friends of Denzel are trying to find out what dispute could have led a ruthless assailant to to gun him down and kill him.

ASP Alejandro Cowo
"We know that he had a dispute about a year ago with a family member, and that he had recently been released from prison. From there, we know that he had been receiving threats, but it is nothing to do with any gang."

Reporter
"Does the family know if he had beef with anymone, or anyone who wanted him dead?"

Lissette Casasola
"Probably, like 2 years ago, my brother had a run-in with the law. I'm not saying that is the reason for his death. We don't have any evidence. We don't have anything to say that's why it happened but. I don't know."

"He was the brains of the family. He was the smartest of the bunch, but I think things begin to change with him after the death of our mom. He's the youngest. He's the baby. After that, we started seeing different changes in him, but we didn't take it serious, until that incident that happened where they diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia. The thing we will always remember about him, we can call on him to do anything [for us] Anything he set his mind to do, he can do."

As you heard, the family recently held the funeral for Hamed Guzman, the BDF volunteer who was shot and killed 10 days prior to Denzel Flowers' murder.

Flowers would have celebrated his 22nd birthday this coming weekend.

You also heard his family acknowledge that he had a run-in with the law about 2 years ago. They were referring to an incident back in December 2016, when he was accused of attacking his step-mother, Consuelo Lopez, with a machete. He allegedly chopped her multiple times, and he was arrested and charged with attempted murder for the incident.

His family tells us that he was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

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