Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Attempted Murder

A Belize City man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attempted murder of a neighbour he chased down and stabbed multiple times in 2024, after entering a guilty plea under the court’s sentence indication process.

Justice Nigel Pilgrim handed down the sentence earlier this against Mark Stevens, who pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Juan Pineda. The sentence was backdated to June 11, 2024, the date Stevens was first remanded on the charge, meaning he has already served roughly two years of the term.

According to facts agreed by both sides, Pineda was letting his dogs out for a nighttime break on June 8, 2024, when Stevens ran at him wielding a knife. Pineda tried to flee and hide, but Stevens caught up with him and stabbed him repeatedly, starting with a wound to the neck. Witnesses heard Stevens declare his intent to kill Pineda during the attack and, afterward, express a wish that he would die.

A doctor who treated Pineda found stab wounds to his neck, limbs, and abdomen and certified the injuries as grievous harm. Police later identified Stevens through a group identification procedure.

Stevens, who was 36 at the time of the offence, had a prior conviction from 2023 for assaulting a police officer.

Alongside the custodial sentence, the court ordered Stevens to undergo mandatory counselling and receive appropriate medical or psychiatric treatment for violent offenders while incarcerated at Belize Central Prison.