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Thirteen fathers, sons, and brothers were viciously murdered in the first 31 days of 2022.

It's only the third time since 2009 that there have been more than a dozen murders in January. It's also the highest murder count in January since 2018, which had 15 murders.

It's a chilling statistic and 2022 murders began only three days into the new year with the executions of 31-year-old Raymond Dominguez and 21-year-old Justin Milligan. The two friends were inside Dominguez's house playing video games when a gunman burst in and opened fire. And like most murder victims, the family didn't have any idea why.

Mark Milligan - Justin's Brother
"My family lost a son. We lost a brother. We lost a young man who, as far as everybody knows in this community, he wasn't that type of person."

And only two nights later, a minor was gunned down in Dangriga Town. 15-year-old Joshua Flores was reportedly walking with people he had considered his friends, when one of them pulled out a firearm and shot him.

posted (January 6, 2022)
Ezra Garcia - Neighbor/Mother Figure
"Depressing. Very depressing. I mean like, I haven't slept since last night. Very depressing. He doesn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it at all. He wouldn't hurt a fly, Joshua wouldn't hurt a fly."

And less than a week later, on January 9th, 24-year-old Daniel Lopez was stalked while walking home from the police station after a 48-hour detention. He was fatally shot before he even made it inside his yard.

And on January 11th, a son committed patricide when he allegedly chopped his abusive father, who had reportedly just beaten his mother and was about to choke his younger brother. The incident was first regarded as a death investigation, but police would later charge 23-year-old Olvin Rivas for the murder of his father 52-year-old Amaya Salvador Rivas.

posted (January 11, 2022)
Augustine Choc, Chairman, San Roman
"So he told me, I'm not afraid, I kill my own father because I'm tired of his problems. That's what he told me. And then the police came."

And two days afterwards, 25-year-old Dorian Tzac and his 14-year-old neighbor were both shot while inside Tzac's room. It's eerily similar to the earlier double murder because in this case, a gunman also burst into the yard and opened fire, but this time, the minor survived while Tzac was killed.

After that murder, there was a 6 day reprieve before the life of 35-year-old Septimus Richie was taken while he was inside his home - the bullet finding its mark through an opened window.

And while Richie was a devout Christian, those closest to the next murder victim, 26-year-old Michael Lambey felt that it was his own friend that caused him to be fatally shot at the store where he was always hanging out.

But perhaps the most shocking murder of the month was that of 33-year-old Winston "Tanga" James. The gang-figure turned internet celebrity was gunned down in the middle of the day as he left his lawyer's office on January 21st. He was with his girlfriend, Marybeth Wade, who said that, even with his dying breath, he saved her life.

Mary Beth Wade, Girlfriend
"The 2-bullet gone through my hand and one of the bullets is in my hand right now as we speak, because I discharge myself. The other bullet that went through my hand, caught him in his throat. So, he died saving me also, because if he didn't push me down, that bullet would have probably caught me in my chest or my head, because one of the bullets went through the glass right by my temple area."

And that very same night, two more men were also fatally shot. The first was 36-year-old Leslie "Dimes" Gillett. Gillett was at his store - which had been the scene of a double murder two months prior - but this time the gunman got him. But he had known that there was a target on his back.

posted (January 24, 2022)
Gilbert Gillett, Brother of Deceased
"Like he always tell me, he is looking over his shoulder and thing but the thing is that he is a hardworking person and I personally- and he believe in hard work so he said that yes, from what happened, he could see that they are after him."

And only hours later, 33-year-old Virgil Colburn was killed while standing in a friend's yard. He had been waiting on food to be delivered and, by all accounts, he was just an employee at the Ministry of Health who troubled no one.

And exactly one week later, 39-year-old Jose David Funes Lopez was also gunned down on a London Bridge in the Holy Emmanuel area. Not even five years ago, his own wife had been viciously chopped to death by her brother, and with no stable home and few family members, police are having a hard time finding a motive for Funes' killer.

And the final murder for January 2022 came during curfew hours on Sunday morning. 32-year-old Ernest Staine was sitting at Gee Bar in Seine Bight when a man with a gunman came for him. And while another man was injured as well, Staine was the target and there was no mistaking that the assailant was out for blood since, according to an eye witness and friend, he let off a barrage of shots.

Voice of: Eye Witness/Friend
"We saw that it was Ernest Stine, aka Bulky, and he was on the ground and he was bleeding but he wasn't moving so we thought he was dead, well he was dead, but we weren't allowed to go outside and check if he was still breathing because it was an active crime scene. Well, the police weren't here as yet, we were calling for the police and it took a while but When they got here, they secured the crime and his body was down there for a while until the scenes of crime came and believe they found about 12 expended shells in the yard."

And with 13 cold and callous murders, January 2022 had more than double the number of victims than January of last year - but not much more than the murders in 2020, before the start of the pandemic.