Bella Vista’s Deadly Shift from Quiet Streets to Crime Scenes

Bella Vista Village was once known for its quiet streets and close-knit community. Today, it continues to make headlines for all the wrong reasons. Another deadly shooting, this time on Christmas morning, has residents asking: what’s happening to their village? Twenty-five-year-old Archibald ‘Fafa’ Ferrill Jr. was gunned down in what police believe was an ambush, adding to a string of violent crimes that have shaken the community in recent months. From home invasions to armed robberies and brutal killings, the violence is escalating, and so are the questions. Why is crime surging in one of Belize’s fastest-growing villages? Is policing enough to restore peace, or does the solution lie deeper within the community? Tonight, Shane Williams takes a look into the recent spike in violence in a once peaceful village and what’s being done to stop it.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Bella Vista Village is again reeling from deadly violence. Twenty-five-year-old Archibald “Fafa” Ferrill Jr. was shot and killed on Christmas morning. The shooting is believed to have happened between four and five a.m., and officers rushed to the scene shortly after. Investigators say Ferrill was found with as many as ten gunshot wounds. They are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the attack.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“What investigators have gathered so far in the ongoing investigation is that at the afore mentioned date and time, Ferrell was walking on an unnamed street in that village when he was fatally shot by an unknown male person. Intelligence has suggested a probable motive as to why he may have been targeted, and the investigators are following up on that in this ongoing investigation.”

 

Ferrill’s killing is the latest in a string of violent crimes plaguing the village since August, when Franklin Arenivar de Alas was fatally stabbed during a dispute over stolen tools. In September, a gunman rushed into the home of twenty-four-year-old Narjin Ceron around two in the morning and opened fire at him and members of his family. Ceron died instantly, while his common-law-wife Nickey Logan was shot multiple times as she shielded their two-year-old child. In October, a nineteen-year-old mechanic was arrested for the armed robbery of Zhun Hung Store, and in November, thirty-five-year-old barber Marcus Che was shot and killed inside his barbershop. According to police, the recent wave of violence is being driven by personal disputes and criminal activity within the village.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“The administration has recognized indeed this influx, and we have made some administrative changes as it relates to the personnel in terms of putting more operational as well as intelligence person there. But what we know so far is that these incidents, whether connected or not, are suggested to be driven by the sale of drugs in that area.”

 

Shane Williams

“Is there a concern about Salvador gang culture influence in the area as well?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“There is always a concern about gang culture wherever in Belize, I know they are GI three personnel in that area who are tasked with that particular mandate and have had success in the past in terms of capturing, escaped, or wanted persons from other areas within the Central America. So that is indeed an area that we’re focusing on and that is the reason why we have deployed personnel who are mandated to investigate such matters in that area.”

 

Bella Vista Village is one of the largest and fastest growing communities in the country with a population over six thousand, three hundred residents in the 2022 Census. That figure is now approaching ten thousand. The once quiet village is now running hot with criminal activities; that growth has made policing the community far more resource intensive. This is why the Ministry of Home Affairs recently began the construction of a new police station with funding from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). Discarded guns are being repurposed to reinforce the station’s foundation.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs (File: October 27th, 2025)

“Today we are starting the construction of the Bella Vista Police Station which is going to provide security for all of the resident of Bella Vista and surrounding villages and we are extremely excited about this project because it kicks off a series of other police stations that will be constructed across the country; including San Narciso, Santa Elena and much more. In addition to that there is the added benefit of the safe destruction and disposal of so many confiscated firearms that has been accumulated over the last few years.”

 

Jose Morales, Chairman, Bella Vista Village (File: October 27, 2025)

 “We almost have ten thousand people living in our community and as a growing community we believe this construction of a new police station is a very important project towards our growing community.”

 

A new police station and an increase in officers can only do so much to restore peace in the village. Police are appealing to residents for cooperation, stressing that community information is vital to stopping the violence. Shane Williams for News Five.