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Courtney Menzies travelled west today and has this story.

Football was the centre of 19-year-old Chris Rodriguez's life - but it was while playing this sport that the teenager met his demise.

Rodriguez and his 17-year-old cousin decided to spend yesterday evening practicing at Broaster Stadium in San Ignacio, as they do most days. But unbeknownst to them, the National Sports Council had implemented a fee - $15 an hour to practice.

So the two teenagers were surprised when 20-year-old facility caretaker Fausto Teck, told them they had to leave. They complied, but somewhere between the field and the gate, Teck and Rodriguez got into an argument that ended with Rodriguez's murder - and this video allegedly shows Teck as he chased the teenager, weapon in hand.

And for Rodriguez's father, the call to let him know his son had been hurt was the last thing he expected.

Manuel Rodriguez, Father of Deceased
"I'm a horse trainer, I was training horses at the time, when I got a call that Chris got stabbed, I was shocked, surprised that they're calling me for something like that because I know Chris is not a troublemaker, Chris avoids trouble, if you tell Chris something he will walk away. And for him to get stabbed something had to really gone wrong or sparked Chris for him to react at some point for a fight to occur."

And Rodriguez's teenage cousin - who witnessed the entire incident - told his father that it was Teck who initiated the argument.

Carlos Rodriguez, Uncle of Deceased
"They were kicking ball, he was the goalkeeper, my son, and Chris was kicking it into the goal, and then this guy approach them and tell them if they have any ticket to be on the ground to play, they said no, so the guy told them you need to leave, so Chris asked, why do we have to pay for practicing? So my son said right now we are leaving, we're just going to take off our jerseys and leave so when they were walking out, the guy was standing at the entrance, at the gate, and he was telling Chris that he's the one that owns that field, and if he wants, he could make them come back but if he wants, he could make them never come back in that stadium."

Reporter:
"How is your son doing?"

Carlos Rodriguez, Uncle of Deceased
"He's very traumatised, he doesn't want to come out from his house, right now he's crying, I'm trying to talk to him, he don't want to hear anything because he blames himself that maybe he could have tried to do something. I said that maybe if he tried to intervene, maybe he would get stabbed because it's a big guy, it's a big man."

And for this close knit family, it's difficult for them to comprehend that something as minuscule as an unpaid usage fee could lead to the callous killing of a teenager - especially since the fee was only just recently implemented.

Manuel Rodriguez, Father of Deceased
"It's ridiculous the way he died because then how can you charge on a football field or a stadium, charging a fee without you even telling people or having someone there who is responsible and act mature enough to just react- he could have simple said, you know, Chris, we're charging a fee to enter here, have you bought your ticket or give him a break, he probably didn't know they were charging a fee to enter the stadium. You have to give people consideration, you can't just react off of one stupid ticket that you didn't buy."

"Chris was there because he loved football, that was his dream, he didn't follow my footsteps as a jockey or a horse trainer, he had his own goal, his own dream and I totally supported Chris, it's sad that he had to pass away in this manner and he didn't have to really pass like that."

And the pain of his loss is compounded with the memories of his mother's and aunt's brutal murder back in 2016. Daisy Miralda and Miriam Mai were fatally shot inside Mai's salon by her ex-common law husband - an incident that left many kids motherless, including Rodriguez and his siblings.

Manuel Rodriguez, Father of Deceased
"It was rough, for me as well, living with your common law and they just take your common law away from you and the kids are small and you just have to raise, as a single father, you hear a lot about single mother, but people don't look at it as you have great fathers by themselves to move on with their kids. And I admire my kids, they struggle, Stephanie and Jasmine, they really struggle in school after the death, Chris, he was a bit older, he took it like a mature guy and it probably didn't bother him as much, probably he was hurting from the inside but he had a strong mind a strong heart to finish school and I'm proud of him, he did great in school, I always told him from the beginning, I'm proud of you son, you basically did it on your own."

And he was on the right track to reaching his dream - Rodriguez had become synonymous with football. It was the sport he loved and the career he wanted. A few months ago, he joined the World FC team in Cayo and today, his coach and his teammate lamented the loss of the talented teen.

Javier Habet, Head Coach, World FC
"I really don't have the words to express how I feel right now but I'm really sad and I think the whole community feel this one. I just don't have the words to say it right now but this was a promising, talented, young fellow and it's just senseless how they took away the man's life and I just feel emotional already. I just can't right now."

"He was, I don't want to say one of the best, but he was in the top three positions in the whole team, his position was a centre back defensive player and he was pretty much one of the best for the entire tournament. Last season he was the MVP with the defence, he got the best defence last tournament, that says a lot about his talent and he as young, a 19-year-old, so much talent ahead of him."

"Since the rule came out that you have to pay, that pretty much affected us because we're one of the teams that don't have any sponsors so we used to always try raise funds or out of our pockets as team members, help, but it was just ridiculous to charge to use this public area, I mean, I was born and I grew up playing on this pitch for free my whole life and now all of a sudden a fee is there and the little young boy, he died doing something he loved like he wasn't here vandalising the area or causing a fight, he was just playing sports in a public area and they just took away his life senselessly."

Jervi Cante, Friend/Teammate
"[It's] just sad, you know, I grew up playing ball with Chris, from we small every Saturday working out on the Sacred Heart field, just to lose somebody out of senseless, it's just hard. Chris was my brother off and on the field. Great leader, every game he give his heart and soul, I know he went doing something he loved."

"It's simple because the field is nothing hard to maintain. We have so much talent in Belize and for us to have to showcase our talent, we have to pay to use a field? It just upsetting, you know, that's why they say football will never go anywhere in Belize. But we have to live with what we got, we have to make the most of all the opportunities we get."

"I just ask that they drop the charges because COVID really affect things and some teams won't even have sponsorship to play the field and it's sports that we love and we have to develop the sports. And you can't develop something if you charge teams to use the field just like that."

But whether or not the NSC drops the fee, the life of a teenager on the cusp of adulthood has been snuffed out - and now, his father has to live without the smiling face he had grown accustomed to, with only memories of his oldest child and the hope that justice can still be served.

Manuel Rodriguez, Father of Deceased
"Very active, very friendly, anyone would get to talk to Chris from the beginning, you would fall in love with him. He's always smiling and he always running jokes, he's just an easy guy, just kept to himself, he's by himself and most of the time he would hang out with his cousins and play soccer here or play, you know these young guys like to play Freefire so Chris was a happy guy, entertain himself with his phone."

"We haven't recovered yet from Miriam Mai and Daisy Miralda who got murdered by Andy Baustillos, that's still in trial right now, me personally haven't recovered from that yet and then to lose my son now, it's too much, the law here have to tighten up and do better than that."