Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, the Public Service Union is calling for a swift and impartial investigation after a transport officer in Orange Walk was verbally threatened by a police officer in civilian clothing who appeared to be highly intoxicated.
The video footage was captured on the Phillip Goldson highway about 10 days ago where the police officer used profane and aggressive language towards a transport officer. The PSU commended the transport officer for his professionalism, which they say helped defuse the situation.
A formal complaint has been filed, and the PSU is urging the police department to treat the matter seriously to ensure accountability and uphold public trust.
For context, here is the video of the confrontation:
And today the ComPol confirmed that the Professional Standards Branch is already dealing with the issue. And he will be criminally charged:
Voice of: Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Mr. Vasquez, in respect to that matter involving the police in Orange Walk with the transport officer, the Orange Walk police have concluded with the criminal aspect of the investigation and so the police officer is going to be charged for aggravated assault in line with the new amendment that deals with a person who assaults a public officer whilst in execution of their duty."
"So he is going to be charged for that. In respect to the internal aspect of the investigation that is being dealt with by Professionals Standard Branch, they have issued him a notice of complaint, as I have said to you earlier, and the others are waiting for him to respond to that notice after which the charges will be levied against him, perhaps for order and discipline."
"So there is where we are with that. As soon as he is charged today with the criminal complaint, he will be placed on the interdiction pending the outcome of that particular case."
The officer is a corporal attached to Hattieville.
Akinyela Taylor is not a name that will soon be forgotten in Belize's history. 8 days ago, he hijacked a Tropic Air Flight at knifepoint, changing domestic air travel forever. And in the end, he was killed, which means that the full story of why he did it will always remain unknown.
Not much is known about Taylor, including why he came to Belize, and why he had issues getting back to the US. But in trying to piece together who he was, we discovered that the 49 year old was a father of four, an author, an air force veteran, a football player, among other things.
Courtney Menzies put together the information we know so far. Here is that story.
For Belize, 49 year old Akinyela Taylor will be remembered as the US National who hijacked a domestic flight, stabbed three people, and was shot dead by a civilian.
But who was he before that? This comment from his brother, Thomas Taylor, states that he was a college football player for the University of New Mexico and had a Master's Degree in History.
Other comments say, quote, "Akinyela felt he was under surveillance from the government due to the fact that he spoke out on some issues that he saw while enlisted." End quote. His brother also said, quote, "Akinyela was the best brother that one could have, he looked out for his family. I love my brotherAC dearly, but I realize those individuals had to do what they had to survive." End quote.
Thomas Taylor added that he has been trying to come up with any reasons why his brother would go through with something like this. That's the same question the pilot, Howell Grange had, and he tried asking Taylor while on the flight.
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot "And the part of when they had a nice silence in the aircraft, I asked him why. I don't know why I asked him but I asked him why. And he told me, is your stepfather sleeping with your wife? I told him no. he said, your country doesn't want to let me go home and the United States doesn't want me there either. I told him, well, all of us have problems, all the time we have problems, people don't like their political leaders. So I tried to get to his mind and calm him down."
"When we were over the water for a long period of time and I saw him starting to sweat and vomit and spit, I said I have him where I want because now I have him second guessing himself, what he had done. At this point I was really wishing he said let's go land and he's just having a bad day and he takes his punishment that he has to take but it worked out how it worked out."
Jules Vasquez: "You thought that he would lose his resolve?"
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot "Yeah."
Jules Vasquez: "And just land the plane now."
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot "Just land the plane now."
But with Taylor deceased, there will always be more questions than answers. However, what we do know is that he was a veteran of the US Air Force who rose to the rank of Master Sergeant. He won several awards during his 13 years of service from 1999 to 2012, including a Global War On Terrorism Service Medal. And the irony of it is that he died committing an act of terror.
It's clear Akinyela Taylor was a deeply troubled man up there in the skies - where he never should have been. Since the incident, there has been no coherent security strategy put forth by the Belize Airports Authority, no clear accounting of what happened. by the Civil Aviation Department and no sweeping initiatives announced by the National Security Council.
The Prime Minister has told this news room that the National Security Council meets on Monday, and then he reports to Cabinet on Tuesday - and then, after that, a full two weeks after the hijacking - public announcements will be made - we. hope.
Right now, the added security measures have been put in place by Tropic Air acting on its own initiative - with support from the police department. It's a start though - and Howell Grange says he welcomes the change that will prevail when he returns to the air, whenever that is:
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot "At some point I am going back, but I need for recover fully first, full recovery. I don't know how long that's going to be, because I don't know how long this hand is going to take for recover. I don't know how long I'm going to take for start walk properly."
"It'll be a long process of healing, long, long."
Jules Vasquez "When you go back, everything will have changed. There will be no security measures. How do you feel about that?"
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot "Pretty much good. We really took it serious what happened."
And while they must take it seriously, Grange disclosed that serious was the last thing he felt like being when he came out of an induced coma on Good Friday - one week ago.
He told us that at first he thought he was in heaven:
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot "But I thought I was in heaven, honestly and when I opened my eyes and I realized what is happening and I saw my wife, I tell her, but with bad word. I said, (explicit), girl, I want a cold Belikin right now. And then I saw my daughter, and I told her how she reached here so fast, because I really thought I was just coming out the operation. I never knew that I was intubated. I never knew, induced coma, none of that. I had zero recollection until Saturday, late evening, when they tell me."
But, for now, no beers for Grange who is on a strict liquid diet due to the knife wound which punctured his cheek and cut through to his tongue.
There was a fire in Sandhill and the family suspects that it may be a case of arson. It happened last night at 8:00pm when no one was at home. Fire personnel were called to Sandhill village at Mile 16 on the Philip Goldson Highway where they found a wooden structure engulfed in flames. The home, owned by Darnell Gideon had no electrical connections and was running on solar power. The value of the damages have yet to be ascertained.
Last night we told you about the stolen Honda Pilot mid sized SUV. Well, it still hasn't been found.
The vehicle owned by a Belizean boat builder was stolen from his home yesterday afternoon by an intruder who entered and attempted to hold him at gunpoint.
57 year old Ricardo Marin told police that he was sitting in his parlor eating when he saw the man approaching his doorway with a firearm in hand. Marin then ran out of the house leaving behind a staff member and friend in his home. The robber then made off with his son's Honda Pilot SUV, and an undisclosed amount of cash and several cellular phones belonging to others in the house. Police are now searching for suspects and the vehicle.
Back in December 2024, Leonard Baltazar was killed after he was reportedly caught burglarizing a resort cabana on Tobacco Caye where an American couple - both hotel guests - was sleeping.
The man, Scott Taylor, chased Baltazar out of the cabana and attacked him. The case was first labeled self-defense but the police told the family that they were still investigating - since Taylor died outside the cabana.
However, 4 months later, there has been no update and so the family has come to the media. They say the case cannot be a matter of self-defense if Baltazar ran out of the room - meaning the couple was not in immediate danger. They're also concerned that Taylor was allowed to leave the country 72 hours after the incident. They spoke to us via Zoom.
Ampara Sanchez, Mother of Deceased "Just up to yesterday, I went to the police station because I filed for a death police report for my son with Scott Taylor and it's going on to 3 months now and every time I go, I haven't gotten any feedback on the report and same way when I try to reach out to the CIB who was investigating my son's murder, it's like nobody tried to come out to answer my questions or phone calls or anything like that."
Vincent Higinio, Stepfather of Deceased "When we spoke with Sheldon Williams, he was the investigating officer, he immediately told us that the case was closed based on a claim of self-defense so after we received the autopsy report and the autopsy report states that her son was choked by another person and the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation. Once we received this, I called the US Embassy to get more information, they gave me the name of Corporal Depaz in the Dangriga Police Station so we went there and spoke to him, shared with him the autopsy report and also explained to him in regards to the law, I'm not a lawyer but I do know that once a person is fleeing the claim of self-defense goes out the window."
"He told us that the case had been reopened, it was never closed and ever since that conversation, we have been unable to talk to Corporal Depaz or anyone else in the Dangriga police department."
Courtney Menzies: "How would you respond to that criticism that, well, your son was looking for it?"
Vincent Higinio, Stepfather of Deceased "As a citizen, your responsibility is to call the police, not to pursue the intruder. You have the option but his responsibility was to call the police or to call somebody because his life was no longer in threat. He fled. Now, I'm hearing also the question about a young man making bad decisions and I believe that we all were young and we all made bad decisions at one time in our life. That doesn't deserve a death sentence."
Last night we told you about the explosive claim of judicial misconduct and bias made against a high court judge.
The claimant is activist Jerry Enriquez who was trying to get an injunction against the general election on the basis that it was unconstitutional because of the malapportioned voters' list.
He and his attorney Anand Ramlogan made a valiant attempt to stop the election - but they failed when it was rejected by justice Tawanda Hondora. But now they have made claim of bias against the judge - and we had a closer look at it:
Anand Ramlogan, Attorney - Jeremy Enriquez "I have seen something very disturbing, and I want to bring it to your attention."
This was the moment in court when Anand Ramlogan made an incredible claim against the presiding judge:
Anand Ramlogan, Attorney - Jeremy Enriquez "And during the break, I am advised my lord that unfortunately, your microphone was on and my lord unfortunately you are recorded as being overheard as saying that you had made up your mind to dismiss this application already."
"But if you said that during the break and you've made up your mind then don't waste my time."
Justice Hondora "Alright, so Mr. Ramlogan. Whatever information you've been told is patently incorrect."
Anand Ramlogan, Attorney - Jeremy Enriquez "Sorry my lord?"
Justice Hondora "Whatever information you've been told is patently incorrect."
Justice Hondora denied it but this was reported to Ramlogan by his junior attorneys in Trinidad who heard it on the Zoom conference during the lunch break.
That's when one of them took out their cell phone and recorded the judge discussing the case - apparently with another judge:
Voice of: Justice Tawanda Hondora "He's saying, before you in that matter, they tried to get an injunction. You didn't give an injunction, right?"
"Yeah. But they've also requested, I think it's ground three, an injunction against the holding of any elections based on the current, but you did not, you just ignored it right?"
And, in his letter Enriquez says "it was improper and unethical." He cites a code of judicial conduct which says: "A judge shall exercise the judicial function independently on the basis of the judge's assessment of the facts….free of any extraneous influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interference, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason."
With this, he asks for the judge's removal from hearing this case:
Jerry Enriquez, Complainant Against Judge "There was a misconduct in our hearing. And we want that to be known to the public that there is no way in which a judge should discuss a case before he has made a ruling."
"Secondly, would like the chief justice to remove him from the case that have an appeal for wasted cost."
"The statements of the judge called into serious question the integrity, the impartiality, the kinds of objectivity that they brought to the case. And so that was a deep concern."
But the deepest concern is about this statement - for which there is no recording:
Jerry Enriquez, Complainant Against Judge "So by the time the attorney heard that first part of the statement, he rushed to find a way to record the rest of the conversation."
Jules Vasquez "But this sensational alleged statement made in private by the judge, it's really just an allegation because you all don't have a recording of it. How do you respond to that?"
Jerry Enriquez, Complainant Against Judge "I submitted to the Chief Justice a recording of other parts of that, of this other statements that he made during the lunch break, to show that there was that discussion. The discussion was recorded."
Jules Vasquez "What about that part of the conversation that was recorded makes you feel it is inappropriate?"
Jerry Enriquez, Complainant Against Judge "That it's, we question whether the charge should be discussing the case, in between before it was completely heard and be able to discuss it in the manner in which he did."
And now with this lengthy 157 page complaint, Enriquez has gone into rarely charted territory:
Jerry Enriquez, Complainant Against Judge "It was not an easy decision for me. But it has to be made. At least some investigation must be done to make sure that, all judges maintain integrity, their independence and make sure that the trials that they are hearing, they have to be, seen as, very fair."
There has been no indication from the court or the judicial and legal service commission if they have received the complaint or if they will grant a hearing.
Last night you heard from the woman who borrowed two thousand dollars in November from a micro credit facility - and then - by March - ended up owing - 5,500 dollars in interest, fines, and other fees. That's largely because she didn't pay on time - and tonight the lender, which is named Bathsheba Limited, has put out a statement.
They say they are a licensed moneylender regulated by the Central Bank and, quote, "the fees and interest we charge are strictly regulated (by law)....to not exceed 48% per annum, while Regulation 12 limits administrative fees to a maximum of 16% of the principal amount within any 30-day period....Crucially, Regulation 13 caps the combined interest and administrative fees on any loan at 100% of the principal amount." end quote.
They add, quote, "We are firmly of the view that every instance where recourse to the courts becomes necessary represents, fundamentally, a failure. Nevertheless, the principle of liquidated damages mandates that parties responsible for causing financial loss must bear the full extent of resulting costs.
Regarding the matter currently before the court involving Ms. Dennison, we respectfully refrain from substantive comment. It is noted, however, that Ms. Dennison entered into three loan agreements, of which two were repaid. A comprehensive settlement, including the waiver of all interest and fees, was previously agreed upon in principle; however, the matter ultimately proceeded to trial at her request." End quote.
Some leaders return in glory, others in shame, but Shyne Barrow returned to the UDP headquarters today with a grinder to cut open the locks. A workman was captured on cell phone camera grinding away at the lock on the entrance to the stairs and after that Shyne was whisked upstairs.
We don't know who changed the locks on the man who said earlier this week that he was returning as leader.
Shortly after, police were seen at the UDP headquarters and Barrow was talking to them. They left shortly after.
Tracy Panton - in her communication as opposition leader has used a letterhead which says the party headquarters are on Euphrates Avenue.
Another jaguar has been killed - and it's the third in the past two months. This time, the jaguar was reportedly hit by a vehicle on the Caracol Road. The other two occurred in March and earlier this month, on the Western and Southern highways, respectively.
They play a vital role not only during labor but also before and after, and today 20 new midwives received their official certificates from the University of Belize.
That means that now they are off to the various hospitals, and healthcare centers across the country to assist expecting mothers. We stopped by the ceremony today and here's what we saw:
Lizett Bell, Chief Nursing Officer, MOHW "This ceremony today is for us to celebrate the completion of our 20 nurses who embark in the Certificate in Midwifery program in last year. In January of 2024 so we are celebrating their completion of the program today."
"This program is a 15 month program. It's focused in midwifery, so it's for them to develop the expertise in providing quality maternal care and child care as well. And so, these nurses would have to do a number of hours in the clinical setting. Also, they are able to do some theory as well. For them to be able to complete the program, they must complete at least 30 deliveries in addition to the number of hours that they need to complete in the clinical lab So, it's a very rigorous program. And, it's a nonstop program where they do not get holidays. They literally go to school for 15 months straight until they complete their program."
"Midwifery is, a profession, a specialised area in health services, it's very important because this is where we provide care for the woman during her, pregnancy. We ensure that they have a safe delivery, and we also care for them and the families during that period and post delivery. These nurses are also trained to provide services to children as well. During this training, for us as a country to be able to, improve with our neonatal and maternal, health services. It is critical for us to ensure that we have midwives that are competent, and they are trained at the level where they can provide this quality services. I would like to highlight that, in Belize we have been seeing constant decrease in maternal mortality and this is so because we have competent health care workers. We they are committed. They provide the care as per the treatment protocols. And so, we must congratulate them for what they have been doing so far."
Lecia Bevans, Interim Chair, Nursing Department UB "In our country a Midwife, you're not considered a midwife until you pass that licensure exam. So the students can complete that midwifery program. They can meet all the criteria area for the program But if they do not pass the licensure exam that is set by the Nurses and Midwives Council, then they are not midwives. So that is the last step that our student need to do. Now this program have have been running."
"The previous school of nursing used to run a midwifery program, and at that time it used to be with the Ministry of Health. Since UB, since the amalgamation with UB in 2000, in preparing, I observed that our first cohort was in 2001."
"Since the nursing department came and was amalgamated with the other institution to UB then they have been running this program on the request of the Ministry of Health."
COP 30 will take place in Belem, Brazil in November 2025 and Belize is getting ready with a preparatory session around negotiations training. It was held at the Umaya Resort in Placencia this afternoon and the Minister of Sustainable Development spoke about the importance of the training and participating in COP.
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development "Today is very important and these two and a half days going into this training program which is actually looking at Belize's participation in some of these international arena targets and goals which we have and certainly we look at the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement and how we can train our people so that when they go as young negotiators to these forums you'll be able to do the best they can for Belize and so we have for example the NDCs which looks at Belize's targets and climate targets and goals which is so very important and every five years we have to do a new NDC because it is our commitment under the Paris Agreement and so these are areas where we really have to focus on and our people have to know what are the developments but we also have the BTRs which are the Biennial Transparency Reports which gives us a clear understanding of the development of our commitments and we have the Transparency Reports, we have the Communication Reports which are tied together to show Belize's commitments under these international agreements. It is so very important, one, because we have this international commitment but because it gives us an opportunity especially as a small island developing state to make sure that the world knows the effects of climate change upon Belize and how we are being affected but also to look at ways in which we can seek resources for mitigation, for adaptation and building resilience and certainly for us to be able to move on forward knowing that we will not be able to stop climate change but we have our commitments to bring down the global temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade by 2030 which if it doesn't go there then we will be experiencing a lot more problems."
Described by those closest to him as the man with the million dollar voice, a candlelight vigil was held last night in honor of Concego's memory.
The Punta Rock Artist died a week ago after he succumbed to his injuries following an accident.
A number of Belizean musical icons came out to show their support at the vigil, and shared a few memories about their times with the talented Concego. In an interview with Belizean artist, Nello Player he shared that he had first met Concego when he performed at his wedding.
And we close tonight with another musical legend, luckily this one is living. He is Kenny Morgan, rapper, singer, poet and spoken word artist. In a lifetime of creating music and lyrics, Morgan does it all. We leave you with two of the poems from his just released book "If Unu Tink Da Lai" - where he opened up his reading by thanking all those who had honoured him. Enjoy and join us back here on Monday night - good night and have a great weekend:
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Tonight, the Public Service Union is calling for a swift and impartial investigation after a transport officer in Orange Walk was verbally threatened by a police officer in civilian clothing who appeared to be highly intoxicated.
Akinyela Taylor is not a name that will soon be forgotten in Belize's history. 8 days ago, he hijacked a Tropic Air Flight at knifepoint, changing domestic air travel forever. And in the end, he was killed, which means that the full story of why he did it will always remain unknown.
Howell Grange, Tropic Air Pilot 
There was a fire in Sandhill and the family suspects that it may be a case of arson. It happened last night at 8:00pm when no one was at home. Fire personnel were called to Sandhill village at Mile 16 on the Philip Goldson Highway where they found a wooden structure engulfed in flames. The home, owned by Darnell Gideon had no electrical connections and was running on solar power. The value of the damages have yet to be ascertained. 
Last night we told you about the stolen Honda Pilot mid sized SUV. Well, it still hasn't been found.
Back in December 2024, Leonard Baltazar was killed after he was reportedly caught burglarizing a resort cabana on Tobacco Caye where an American couple - both hotel guests - was sleeping.
"Just up to yesterday, I went to the police station because I filed for a death police report for my son with Scott Taylor and it's going on to 3 months now and every time I go, I haven't gotten any feedback on the report and same way when I try to reach out to the CIB who was investigating my son's murder, it's like nobody tried to come out to answer my questions or phone calls or anything like that."
"When we spoke with Sheldon Williams, he was the investigating officer, he immediately told us that the case was closed based on a claim of self-defense so after we received the autopsy report and the autopsy report states that her son was choked by another person and the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation. Once we received this, I called the US Embassy to get more information, they gave me the name of Corporal Depaz in the Dangriga Police Station so we went there and spoke to him, shared with him the autopsy report and also explained to him in regards to the law, I'm not a lawyer but I do know that once a person is fleeing the claim of self-defense goes out the window."
Last night we told you about the explosive claim of judicial misconduct and bias made against a high court judge.
"I have seen something very disturbing, and I want to bring it to your attention."
Justice Hondora
"There was a misconduct in our hearing. And we want that to be known to the public that there is no way in which a judge should discuss a case before he has made a ruling."
Last night you heard from the woman who borrowed two thousand dollars in November from a micro credit facility - and then - by March - ended up owing - 5,500 dollars in interest, fines, and other fees. That's largely because she didn't pay on time - and tonight the lender, which is named Bathsheba Limited, has put out a statement.
Some leaders return in glory, others in shame, but Shyne Barrow returned to the UDP headquarters today with a grinder to cut open the locks. A workman was captured on cell phone camera grinding away at the lock on the entrance to the stairs and after that Shyne was whisked upstairs.
Another jaguar has been killed - and it's the third in the past two months. This time, the jaguar was reportedly hit by a vehicle on the Caracol Road. The other two occurred in March and earlier this month, on the Western and Southern highways, respectively. 
They play a vital role not only during labor but also before and after, and today 20 new midwives received their official certificates from the University of Belize.
"This program is a 15 month program. It's focused in midwifery, so it's for them to develop the expertise in providing quality maternal care and child care as well. And so, these nurses would have to do a number of hours in the clinical setting. Also, they are able to do some theory as well. For them to be able to complete the program, they must complete at least 30 deliveries in addition to the number of hours that they need to complete in the clinical lab So, it's a very rigorous program. And, it's a nonstop program where they do not get holidays. They literally go to school for 15 months straight until they complete their program."
Lecia Bevans, Interim Chair, Nursing Department UB 
COP 30 will take place in Belem, Brazil in November 2025 and Belize is getting ready with a preparatory session around negotiations training. It was held at the Umaya Resort in Placencia this afternoon and the Minister of Sustainable Development spoke about the importance of the training and participating in COP.
"Today is very important and these two and a half days going into this training program which is actually looking at Belize's participation in some of these international arena targets and goals which we have and certainly we look at the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement and how we can train our people so that when they go as young negotiators to these forums you'll be able to do the best they can for Belize and so we have for example the NDCs which looks at Belize's targets and climate targets and goals which is so very important and every five years we have to do a new NDC because it is our commitment under the Paris Agreement and so these are areas where we really have to focus on and our people have to know what are the developments but we also have the BTRs which are the Biennial Transparency Reports which gives us a clear understanding of the development of our commitments and we have the Transparency Reports, we have the Communication Reports which are tied together to show Belize's commitments under these international agreements. It is so very important, one, because we have this international commitment but because it gives us an opportunity especially as a small island developing state to make sure that the world knows the effects of climate change upon Belize and how we are being affected but also to look at ways in which we can seek resources for mitigation, for adaptation and building resilience and certainly for us to be able to move on forward knowing that we will not be able to stop climate change but we have our commitments to bring down the global temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade by 2030 which if it doesn't go there then we will be experiencing a lot more problems."
