Beloved Belize City Vendor ‘Pie Bwai’ Slain in His Home

The murder of sixty-one-year-old Wayne “Pie Bwai” Myles has sent shockwaves through Belize City, where he was cherished for his warm personality and decades of service as a street vendor. Known for his daily interactions and acts of kindness, Myles is described as someone who embodied peace and positivity in a community often marred by violence. His death on Friday night inside his own home has left residents reeling and authorities scrambling for answers. Police investigations so far suggest that Myles may not have been the intended target, as suspicions point to gang-related connections within the property. Still, the loss of a man described as “nothing but peace” underscores the tragic toll of gun violence in the Old Capital. Tonight, the search for his killer continues. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Sixty-one-year-old Wayne Myles, known by many as “Pie Bwai”, is the latest victim of gun violence in the Old Capital. His brother, Floyd Myles, found him bleeding out inside the bathroom of his Belize City home on Friday night.

 

Floyd Myles, Brother of Deceased

“The same night I left here this is like about twenty to eight, I went to buy boledo on sixth street like I always do. Upon going around the curve off my eleventh street I see my brother coming home. So when I went to the store and upon coming back home I hear this gun sound. But I did not know I would come to meet my brother on the ground.”

Floyd Myles stated that after greeting his brother on the street, he noticed a silver vehicle heading toward their home. He believes the person responsible for his brother’s death was inside that vehicle.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police control room was altered to reports of a shooting incident at 11^th Street Belize City. CIB personnel proceeded to that location and upon their arrival they were escorted to a room where they observed the motionless body of Wayne Myles, affectionately known as Pie Bwai, a sixty-one-year-old of the said address. Initial investigation revealed that Myles was at his residence when an armed male person entered the yard and is reported to have fired one shot in the air. When this was done, it is reported that Mr. Myles opened the window and that is when the gunman fired two additional shots and that is when one fatally injured Mr. Myles. The male person then made good his escape onboard the motor vehicle that brought him to the location.”

 

Police are yet to establish a motive for the incident. Could the shooter’s actions have been random? There are suspicions that Myles was not the intended target. The gunman was after someone else on the property.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“We do know that an occupant of the yard where Mister Myles resides is a person who has been charged previously for gang related activity. I cannot say whether he was the intended target, but that is one of the possible avenues we were pursuing because, by all indications Mr. Myles was a very loved individual who is not known to be engaged in any nefarious activities. Personally I have known him for quite some time and it is certainly a loss I have felt. On various occasions I would have interacted with him and the sentiments I have, and that would have been echoed on social media, is that he is nothing but peace, and he exudes that aura. So, we have no reason to believe he was the target in that incident.”

 

Investigators are currently working with the theory that Myles was killed because of his connection to the actual intended target. Regardless of the possible motive behind the crime, one thing remains certain: his death is a profound loss to many. Myles was widely recognized in Belize City for his strong work ethic and friendly demeanor while making his daily sales, a practice he maintained for decades.

 

Floyd Myles

“All I could say is something he liked from small, selling food, helping people, making people happy. For instance, just yesterday something surprises me, because I went to the store on 6^th Street and a Chinese lady told me that she heard what happened. She said, your brother always come in here two times a day to buy bread and rice for the pigeons and that was surprising to me, because I did not expect a Chinese lady would come and say that to me.”

 

It’s not the first time a gunman has targeted someone in that yard. In June 2022, twenty-six-year-old Jordan Bradley was fatally shot inside the same residence. We spoke with Pie Bwai at the time of that incident.

 

Wayne Myles, Belize City Resident (File: Jun 23, 2022)

“So I just stayed cool and kept on moving and when I ride pan 6^th Street again , I get the next report again.  Dehn seh big action eena your yard again.  I said wow, so all I did was I hurry tried to get back to my house and try see for myself weh di go ahn with di hood.  And I saw it for myself, I can’t believe it.”

And a decade prior there were reports that Myles himself was shot and killed, but he quickly came forward to dispel those rumors. Tonight, authorities actively search for the shooter who claimed the life of a beloved salesman who dedicated his life to serving up sweet treats and good energy everywhere he went. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.