7 News Belize

17 Year Old Shot 7 Times Succumbs
posted (December 30, 2019)
On the 24th of November, 17-year-old Chanteuse Martinez was shot 7 times in an act of senseless violence that caught the young woman and her boyfriend completely off guard.

You'll remember that Chanteuse's boyfriend Mervin and his 1-year-old baby niece Melanie were also shot during the incident. They were treated and released, but Chanteuse remained critically injured.

Her youth may have given her the strength to make it through a month with very serious injuries, but, she couldn't hold on any longer and died this weekend. She succumbed to her injuries on Saturday evening. Cherisse Halsall spoke to her family today:

A picture taped to the wall is today the only remnant of 17-year-old Chanteuse Martinez.

Her mother says that she is struggling to cope in the aftermath of her daughter's death but she told us that she is trusting in God.

Sandra Petillo, Chanteuse Martinez's mother
"We're not dealing with nice at all, it's not easy, we're going through a lot. They just took my daughter's life innocently. She was going to school. She was a very sweet person. As you can see her there she is very friendly and very nice. She cooperated with everyone. She didn't deserve what happened, but we can't change what has already happened, but I just asks the police officers, the law, whatever - to do their jobs. I left everything into the hands of the almighty."

Reporter
"We know that your daughter wss involved with Mr. Martin, was it a frequent thing for her to be over there?"

Sandra Petillo
"No not really, she just went over there to pick up some thing and then same time the incident happened. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. All I know is that my daughter got hurt in the process which is unfair, but like I said she is just one of the kids that got caught up in the Belize violence - got hurt innocently. I lost my baby and it's not easy."

We spoke to Chanteuse's father in law in the immediate aftermath of the shooting on November 24th. At the time he told us that the gunman had absolutely no conscience.

FILE: November 25th, 2019
Cecil Martin, Father, Grand-father, and Father-in-Law of the victims

"I couldn't say what happened I saw young man walk into the yard and start to fire shots. He started to shoot, because I was over the other side of the street sitting down me and my cousin and I just saw a young man come from around the lane, he walked into the yard and started to open fire like he came to kill a whole set of family and wasn't worried about anything."

"It's a 50/50 situation and it's only god could work a miracle right now to get her back."

And Chanteuse Grandmother told us that the young woman who had never been a pushover had been full of joy for life.

Doris Moreira, Chanteuse's Grandmother
"She was hype. She never back down on anything. This what happened really touched the family, because then she was not those little girls who are all over the place. It's like this happened, but it really hurts. She didn't deserved it."

"What happened she was on life support for one month and one week Sunday, and for all the time she wasn't responding. She was on that life support. She wasn't talking and moving - nothing. These boys out here just do things for fun, shooting at people. My granddaughter - I don't know how she got into that thing, but it wasn't for her."

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