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Man Stabbed to Death By Close Friend
posted (November 11, 2019)
A man was stabbed to death at his home in Ladyville, and the person who allegedly attacked him was his close friend.

He's 41-year-old Lee Lopez, a resident of Heron Street, and while he was socializing with his usual friends in his yard, he got into some sort of argument with one of them. Things escalated quickly, and Lopez was killed - reportedly stabbed straight to the heart with a pint bottle.

Our news team went looking for answers today, and Daniel Ortiz reports:

The general consensus in Ladyville is that 41-year-old Lee Lopez, better known as "Bambino", was kind and easygoing individual, who spent most of his free time here at his home.

Sebastian Hamilton - Friend of the Deceased
"Bambino is a nice person - used to be because he died, alright. But, when he was alive, he was a nice person. He took care of us, all of us. He is not a violent man."

Voice of: Louise Ramos - Friend/Employer of the Deceased
"He didn't deserve to die this way because he is a very nice person, and he's willing to give [helping] hand to everybody, as long as he has it. They just chanced him."

That sense of unfairness is compounded by the narrative that the man who killed Lopez was allegedly a close friend of his. His relatives and friends tell us that he welcomed the young men of his neighborhood to safely socialize in his yard. Whenever they didn't have anything to eat, he always had a plate of food that he was willing to share with them.

Last night, however, he got into some sort of heated argument with one of those friends, and things escalated to tragedy when that man pulled some sort of sharp object and stabbed him in the chest. There is a bit of confusion as to what the murder weapon was. Some reports suggest a piece of a broken bottle; others say it was a machete.

Whatever he was attacked with, that injury caused him to bleed out and die right here, at the gate of his fenced yard.

Voice of: Louise Ramos
"I don't really know, but my understanding is that they were fighting, and he was trying to part the fight. And he got chopped- I don't really know which part, but when I came here, he had already passed away."

"They say it's somebody who he knows, who almost lives at his house, who he feeds every day, and helps every day."

"For someone helping you, giving you love, and giving you food every day, where is your love for that person? Even if that person is quarreling with you, walk away from that person. Think about the good that he did for you. Violence today, I don't know. I don't know where is people's God. Where is the love?"

Bambino's friends tell us that they will remember him for his humble love for the people he kept close.

Voice of: Louise Ramos
"There is not a day that I don't see him. Every day, in the mornings, he comes and wakes me up. He grates coconut for my business. He goes and buys it for me. I can call him, anytime, any day, and he will come. He is to me, more than my children. He helps me out a lot."

Sebastian Hamilton - Friend of the Deceased
"We come. All of us come, Bambino..."

Reporter
"Socialize."

Sebastian Hamilton
"Socialize. He used to call me 'Cholo', but I don't like that word, because I am a Belizean, right?"

We understand that Lopez's alleged attacker is currently in police custody. We are also informed that some of the eyewitnesses who were present during the murder were also detained for questioning.

If and when police make an arrest, we'll tell you who they charge for Lopez's killing.

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