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For just about 3 and a half years, 30-year-old Valentine Baptist, has been on remand for the murder of 19-year-old Devin Parham. Tonight, he is back at the Belize Central Prison after Justice Colin Williams today found him guilty and gave him a fixed sentence of 26 years and 7 months for Parham’s murder. 

On July 6, 2016, Parham and his cousin Victor were walking on Cemetery Road near to First Choice Pharmacy when Baptist rode by on a bicycle and opened fire. Victor ran, while Devin, who was the target, received multiple gunshot wounds. 

Shortly after the shooting, the police apprehended Baptist with a Glock 9 millimetre pistol that they saw him throw into a yard on Dean Street. There were no eyewitnesses to the shooting and Baptist, in the trial that was without a jury, was convicted purely on ballistic evidence which showed that expended shells found at the scene matched the gun Baptist had thrown in the yard.