You may remember the story from August 26th, 2014, which happened on Holy Emmanuel Street. Sonia Harris, a Belizean who resides partly in both the US and Belize, reported to police that at around 12:45 p.m., someone lit her wooden house on fire. The blaze destroyed the house completely, costing her approximately $75,000 in losses.

She testified in the trial before Justice Colin Williams that she resides in New York most of the time, but at the time of the incident, she was Belize City. She said that when she found out that her house was on fire she was with inspector Fitzroy Yearwood at Tillett's Body Work Shop, and that it was Yearwood who took her to the scene. She said that when she arrived at her house, it was already engulfed in flames and she was told that Alvarez was the last person that was seen leaving the house shortly after the fire started.

Yearwood testified and he corroborated her portion of her testimony. Yearwood also testified that when he located Alvarez in Jane Usher Boulevard, Alvarez told him that he did what he had to do because his aunt and his mother were taking him lightly. Yearwood also testified that Alvarez said to him that he was lucky to find him because he was considering setting his mother's house on fire. Tyrone Bood, the investigator for the Fire Department, testified and confirmed that the fire started in the northeast corner of the house and that it was a case of arson.

Alvarez, who was not represented by an attorney, gave a statement from the dock in which he denied he committed the offense.