Young Mother’s Life Cut Short Before Father’s Day
Tonight, a nation is grappling with grief and outrage after a ruthless attack claimed the life of a young mother and her unborn child, in broad daylight. Twenty-three-year-old Jane Urbina had just left a visit with her brother at the Belize Central Prison and was waiting at a Hattieville bus stop beside her mother when gunmen on a motorcycle rode up and opened fire. The shocking attack, carried out in full view of her mother, has left a family shattered and a country demanding answers. As police hunt for the killers, those closest to Urbina are holding on to memories of her excitement about becoming a mother to a baby boy, while questions intensify over what could have driven such a brutal, targeted act. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
A wave of grief is sweeping the country after a brutal attack cut short two lives and shattered a young family’s future. Twenty-three-year-old Jane Urbina was gunned down Saturday while waiting at a bus stop in Hattieville, seven months pregnant at the time. She and her unborn baby were both killed, turning what should have been a season of joy into unimaginable loss. Loved ones say Urbina had been eagerly preparing for motherhood alongside her partner of two years. Now, that excitement has been replaced with heartbreak, just hours before Father’s Day.
On the Phone: Boyfriend of Deceased
“The last time I see she da mi di Friday mawning before she gone because she spend the whole week out ya with me She just mi so happy. I just mi blind I neva see the sign. To God it just really hurt me. I just can’t believe this. I still cya process this. I neem know how fi feel. From then to now I wa be real I neem eat nothing.”
According to Urbina’s boyfriend, the baby she was carrying was a boy, to be named after him. They embraced Jane’s pregnancy as a joyful surprise.
Jane Urbina
On the Phone: Boyfriend of Deceased
“The last time I message she, we just had a good time and everything da bout the baby. She just mi cya wait fi meet the baby and we wa know how di baby was look and lots of things. Just a mom and dad thing. We just mi sho happy.”
Urbina’s killing has also left a devastating mark on her mother, who watched the entire attack unfold. Friends say the trauma is unimaginable. Close friend Whitney Hyde describes the grief as overwhelming, saying the pain inside the family is raw and deeply felt.
On The Phone: Whitney Hyde, Friend of Deceased
“Her mom especially, I can’t imagine her mom pain because we spoke late in the morning the day that Jane died, and her mom said that Jane was begging her to, “Mom, please, please help me. Please give me air. I can’t breathe.” And when her mom told me those words, I burst into tears because I didn’t expect someone would want to kill Jane so brutally.”
Lionel Urbina
Police are now working to ascertain a motive behind this killing, including whether it’s linked to the 2025 murder of Kevin DePaz, a case that saw Jane Urbina’s brother, Lionel Urbina, sent to prison. In a heartbreaking twist, Jane had just visited her brother at the Belize Central Prison on the day she was killed, the last time he would ever see her alive. Tonight, as he processes that devastating loss from behind bars, questions are also being raised about the kind of mental health support available to inmates facing such trauma. We put that question to Kolbe Foundation CEO George Gomez.
George Gomez, CEO, Kolbe Foundation
“Mr. Urbina was placed or is residing in Tango ten, which is a protocol cell environment. He’s alone inside a cell and he’s monitored, and that proceeded even before this incident. And so after the incident, he has been in contact with the police officers. Investigators have come. They have spoken to him at the prison. I believe he was also given a call to his mother. I think sometime within the next hour he’s scheduled to go before our psychologist so that they can look him over.”
Gomez says what happens next depends on that first sit-down with the psychologist. From there, the therapist will decide if more sessions are needed. He adds that Urbina hasn’t shown visible distress so far, but staff are keeping a close watch and will continue to assess him. Inmates also have access to on-site staff and pastors, with referrals to mental health professionals when needed. But because Urbina is on remand, any request for him to attend the funeral must go through the courts, meaning it’s now up to his family to make that petition. Britney Gordon for News Five.
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