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So, while those killings happened last night, the City’s first murder occurred on Friday night. 18-year-old Frederick Williams, a resident of Partridge Street Extension, was fatally injured by a gunman who went all the way to his house. 

He was recently released from police custody, and he should have been enjoying his freedom. But, it was cut short by a shooter who kicked open his front door. Our news team has been following the story today, and Daniel Ortiz reports:

Sometime before 11:00 on Friday night, 18-year-old Frederick Williams was at his family home, here on Partridge Street Extension. He was inside with 2 of his younger siblings when a gunman kicked open the front door and shot him several times. The killer had no regard for the fact that other innocent children could have been hurt.

Supt. Alejandro Cowo - OC, CIB Belize City
"On Friday, the 13th of March, just after 11 p.m., police visited the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where they observed Frederick Williams, 18 years of age, from the Partridge Street Extension, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds to his body. What we understand is that he was at his home, at Partridge Street Extension, when somebody barged into the house and fired several shots at him. Unfortunately, he passed away early Saturday morning."

Lafaye Luis - Mother of the Deceased
"My two babies were at home."

Daniel Ortiz
"And they escaped unharmed?"

Lafaye Luis
"Thank God for that."

His mother told us that several hours before he was killed, he was detained by police. She expected him home a bit earlier, and she was blind-sided by the news that not only was he released, but that he was gunned down shortly after that.

Lafaye Luis
"I had gone to look for him at the station because they told me that they would have released him at 11:00 o’clock. When I got to the station they told me that they’d already released him. So, I went back to my girlfriend’s house and when I got to my girlfriend’s house my girlfriend asked me did you meet him? I said no, I haven't seen him. So she asked me, are you sure?I told her yes. So, she said, I don’t know what to tell you. I asked her, what girl? She said they just called her and told her to tell me that they shot my son at home."

"So, I told her you guys play too much and you shouldn’t play like that because I didn’t believe it. So, I went home and when I got there I didn’t meet anyone at home, just the police. So, I asked the police where my son was, and they told me that they’d taken him to the hospital so I went to the hospital and I saw my baby, everything, I spoke to him, he spoke to me well, everything, and after that they just, the doctors just told me that they had to take him in to do a surgery and thing and that was it."

Reporter
"Sir, do we know why Mr. Williams was killed?"

Supt. Alejandro Cowo - OC, CIB Belize City
"We suspect that it’s an ongoing dispute between 2 rival groups that we have in the city."

Lafaye Luis
"I can’t tell you that and I don’t know who did it but all I have to say is my son is going to rest now. No one can hurt him anymore because he’s going to rest now and that’s it leave it to God whoever took his life because he, they can’t harm him anymore."

We’ve seen a video, recorded on cellular phone, which shows Williams in a recent fistfight on Albert Street. He’s the man on the ground who was being assaulted and body-slammed by the other individual he was fighting with. His family tells us that they don’t think that the dispute he had with that individual has anything to do with his death. Police say that they are pursuing it as a possible lead.

Reporter
"Is that in any way connect to his killing, Sir?"

Supt. Alejandro Cowo
"That’s a possibility that we’re looking at, at the moment."

So, how does an 18-year-old teenager become caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless gunman? Police are trying to determine that, but they do note that they recently had to investigate Williams as a suspect for recent crimes in Belize City.

Reporter
"Is Mr. Williams, someone that the police have encountered before, Sir?"

Supt. Alejandro Cowo
"Yes we have had several dealings with Mr. Williams over the past 2 weeks."

Lafaye Luis
"I don’t know that my baby had any enemy because he never one day came and said well,: “Mom i’m having a fight with this person or mom this one here threatened me nothing like that he never came any day to tell me nothing like that. So I don’t know if he had enemies out there."

Daniel Ortiz
"My intention is not to cause any kind of offense or to disrespect your son’s memory in any kind of way but we’ve heard people suggest to us that he has, he was the person’s name being called in some recent crimes within Belize City."

Lafaye Luis
"Which crime, my son hasn’t committed a crime the only crime my son had ever gotten anything for, and he won his case, was a case where police had shot him when they said he robbed some, some security thing when police shot him. My son is like I told you my son is not a thief and He didn’t need to steal because his family takes care of him, there isn’t anything too good that my son can’t get from his family. So he didn’t need to be out here stealing, so no one can talk about any crime because my son wasn’t involved in any crime, no crime, NONE because He is not a murderer."

Williams’ mother told us that after the shooting, she spoke at length with him, and according to her, he promised that he would survive this deadly attack. He clung to life for about 7 hours or so, until he finally passed away at the KHMH at around 5:50 on Saturday morning.