And Gasman Young was also very well known to the cops. He had been charged many times, before the court many times, and as you just heard him say, he felt he was a victim of circumstance.
But, most in the public will say that he was also caught in the commission of an armed robbery - one that endangered the lives of many innocent bystanders.
And his attorney Ronell Gonzalez says that his involvement in the robbery has yet to be proven and that as far as he's concerned, his deceased client remains innocent until proven guilty.
He spoke to us this evening to lament the loss of his client's life and the unfortunate reality that their painstaking suit for a prior incident of police brutality will remain unfinished business.
Ronell Gonzalez, Attorney-at-Law
"My opinion is that at this stage it is a robbery investigation and there would have been allegations that he was involved as far as I'm concerned. I want the public to recall that whenever a matter is under investigation and even before it comes to the court until a conviction is made there are only allegations against him so to my knowledge he was killed innocently at this point. I don't know what force was needed or the facts of that case but that is my interpretation of it."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Now a few months ago you accompanied your client to Channel 7's studio's where he made an allegation of police brutality against him at that time he spoke about feeling that the cards were stacked against him, that in Belize it's difficult to change once you've established a certain type of life."
Ronell Gonzalez, Attorney-at-Law
"Yes and on that note in regards to that incident that had taken place several weeks ago my client had actually taken his time. He had visited my office several weeks ago requesting that he wants to go through the proper channels the proper procedure to get this matter before the court or to have some kind of settlement on his behalf concerning what had happened to him with that police brutality no, I guided him through all the steps he made his reports, he made a report to the professional standards branch and to my opinion he was trying his very best to attack this matter from the legal perspective, no. And it saddens me that at this point now, well, of course, that incident and those allegations against the police won't be able to go any further but it saddens me that he has come, all of this has come to an end in this manner."
Police expect to bring charges against his alleged accomplices over the weekend.
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