Tafaree Sanchez Dies After October Shooting

Twenty-six-year-old Tafaree Sanchez, better known as “Top Up,” has died after succumbing to injuries he sustained in a shooting late last month. Sanchez had been hospitalized since October twenty-ninth, when he was targeted in broad daylight at the corner of Periwinkle and Poinsettia Streets in Belize City. According to police, Sanchez was standing in the area just before noon when an armed assailant approached and opened fire, hitting him multiple times before fleeing. Sanchez was no stranger to police. In September of this year, he was remanded to the Belize Central Prison after being charged in connection with an armed robbery in Crooked Tree involving a Chinese businessman. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. A year earlier, Sanchez was also charged with three counts of attempted murder in relation to a high-profile highway shooting along the Philip Goldson Highway near Horizon Academy, where more than fifty expended shells were recovered after gunmen allegedly targeted a vehicle carrying suspected rival associates. Police have not disclosed whether Sanchez’s killing is linked to any of his previous legal troubles or known disputes.

 

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