Category: Crime

It’s a tragedy that’s shaken the nation to its core. A Belize City mother and her paralyzed son, Evadnie and Luke Jones, were brutally gunned down in cold blood on Friday night, right in their own yard on Cedar Street. The double murder has left the community reeling, and the country demanding answers. What makes this even more chilling is the possible motive. Just hours before the attack, Patrick “Pato” Jones, Evadnie’s son and Luke’s brother, posted a video on TikTok from the U.S., taunting a rival gang. That video may have triggered a deadly chain reaction, one that ended in the loss of two innocent lives.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

It was a crime that unfolded in silence and went unnoticed for nearly a full day. Under the cover of darkness, gunmen ambushed an elderly woman and her disabled adult son in their own yard. By the time police discovered the scene, almost twenty hours later, it was too late. Sixty-nine-year-old Evadnie Jones and her son, Luke Jones, were already gone. The community is heartbroken. Evadnie was known for her warmth, and Luke, who spent his days near La Popular Bakery, was a familiar face to many. He often sat outside, asking for small donations, and had formed a close friendship with a security guard known as “Primo.”

 

Voice of: Hector “Primo”, Friend of Deceased

“Yes he was really my good friend, I lost my good friend. My good friend I lost. Bway everybody we cant believe it, because I close the shop Friday and I sent him home on Friday in the night and the thing happened like quarter to eight, seven thirty, and dah my boss told me Saturday when I came from work from here to the next one, and my boss told me bway dah Luke. And we were surprised, because he us e  to go like ten o’clock Saturday, almost the hour, every time he use to go. But we didn’t see him Saturday and I said that is not normal. But only when the bad weather he didn’t come, but when he come we get surprised, but we didn’t know it was him.”

 

He was a friend to many and a threat to no one. But on that tragic night, Luke Jones was found lying in a pool of blood at his front gate, right beside his mother, Evadnie, on Cedar Street. Tonight, the heartbreak is still fresh, and so is the outrage. Kenneth “Big Tom” Flowers, a former neighbor and someone who knew the family well, is speaking out. He’s condemning the brutal act that took two innocent lives and left an entire community in shock.

 

Kenneth “Big Tom” Flowers, Belize City Resident

“I feel that pain from the day before because that incident happened from the night and people text me and asked if I did not hear the shot. So I want to know how the people deh nuh inform the police and why the police did not come check that they heard gunfire. and these people, they say, were right by the gate.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What poses a man to kill an innocent woman and her disabled son, in the thick of gang warfare?”

 

Kenneth “Big Tom” Flowers

“You have to remember that all the children broken, all the kids broken. The incident happened because that individual on that other side has a problem with somebody on the other side and that person has family right beside he, you understand. The individual weh deh round deh should have given them advice to think twice to go do that situation, because that parent had nothing to do with the violence and then Lukey had nothing to do with that, because he disabled from the day he was born.”

 

Just hours after Patrick “Pato” Jones went live on TikTok, challenging a rival group in Belize and mentioning his mother during the broadcast, tragedy struck. His mother and his disabled brother were gunned down outside their home on Cedar Street. The timing of the attack has raised serious concerns, as the shots that ended their lives rang out shortly after the video was posted. Now, many are questioning whether a social media post may have triggered a deadly act of retaliation.

 

Patrick “Pato” Jones, Relative of Deceased

“Only my mah unu could play with. Bway please bro.”

 

Following the tragic killing of his mother and brother, Patrick “Pato” Jones went live on TikTok again, this time vowing revenge. In response, the Office of the Commissioner of Police issued a strong warning against sharing content that could incite violence or threaten public safety, directly referencing Jones’ broadcasts. Commissioner Richard Rosado assured the public that police are fully committed to the case, stating they “will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice.”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police

“We are following strong leads and we do have persons of interest that I do not want to disclose to protect the integrity of the investigation.”

 

Paul Lopez

“You said you will not rest until justice is served.”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“We have deployed all available investigative resources and our investigators are on the ground meticulously collecting evidential material for us to be able to identify and bring the perpetrator to justice.”

 

In response to the recent double homicide, Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton voiced deep concern over the rise in gang-related violence. She urged the government to bring back and properly fund community policing, rebuild public trust in law enforcement, and work closely with civil society to promote peace and restore safety in Belizean communities. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

 

Commissioner of Police, Doctor Rosado, held a press conference right in front of the victim’s home, where he confirmed what many had feared: a live TikTok video, streamed by Patrick Jones, played a major role in escalating tensions between two rival gangs. According to the Commissioner, police were already monitoring the situation online and working to take the videos down. But the content spread so fast, it was nearly impossible to contain.

 

Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police

“Our initial investigation reveals that the incident may have occurred on the fourth of July sometime around seven thirty p.m. when shots were heard in the area. Our investigation also revealed it may have been as a result of escalating gang tension within rival groups. We believe it may have stemmed from a live on social media in which one member of  certain group issued threats and taunts to another rival group member which escalated to two family members of that person being shot and killed. We are following up all leads and we were monitoring the tensions due to the escalating exchange in the social media and our GI3 personnel and our special branch personnel were monitoring before it escalated quickly. We recognize we must do some adjustment to our strategy to be able to monitor and prevent incidents like these from happening in the future.”

 

Reporter

“Are you able to say what led to the escalation to this guy going live?”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“We are still trying to establish his motive in doing that. We acknowledge he went live and it was shared by a number of organization and individuals which sparked the violent confrontation.”

 

Reporter

“Are you saying the other parties would not have seen that live on their own if it was not shared widely?”

 

Dr. Richard Rosado

“Our cybercrime unit were working closely with social media platform. We were monitoring,. Identifying and removing them. But we recognize the persistent challenges, as one is taken down somebody else posted it. We recognized that but we were monitoring it from the onset.”

 

 

Tensions are high tonight in Belize City after yet another broad daylight shooting, this time at the corner of Amandala Drive and Vernon Street. Just after four o’clock, a gunman on a bicycle rolled up to a property once owned by the late Carlos Diaz and opened fire. A young man, believed to be from the Vernon Street area, was in the yard when the bullets started flying. He was hit multiple times and collapsed on the grass inside the property. Eyewitnesses say he was rushed to the KHMH in the back of a pickup truck, fighting for his life. Over a dozen expended shells were found scattered on the sidewalk. Police haven’t released a motive or the victim’s name just yet, but we’ll keep following this developing story as more details come in.

Tonight, police are trying to piece together the motive behind a bold and deadly shooting that’s left one man dead and another in the hospital. It happened just a block away from home for twenty-eight-year-old Alfredo Trapp and thirty-eight-year-old Gabriel Villafranco Salazar; two men who, police say, are no strangers to trouble. The pair were ambushed by two gunmen on a motorcycle in what appears to be a targeted attack. Trapp didn’t survive the hail of bullets, while Salazar is now recovering and may hold the key to what really happened. Both men have been linked to past murder investigations on the island, raising the question: was this shooting a message, or a case of past deeds catching up with them? News Five’s Paul Lopez has the story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

A tragic night unfolded in the San Mateo area of Ambergris Caye on Thursday. What started as a peaceful day of lobster fishing ended in gunfire and loss. Around nine p.m., twenty-eight-year-old Alfredo Trapp and thirty-eight-year-old Gabriel Villafranco Salazar were just a block away from home, riding in a black golf cart down an unnamed street. That’s when two men on a motorcycle pulled up and opened fire. The scene was chilling, blood stained the street, a grim reminder of the violence that erupted so suddenly. Trapp didn’t survive the attack. Salazar, though injured, made it out alive. Tonight, the community is left shaken, and police are working to uncover what led to this deadly ambush.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“At approximately nine p.m. on Thursday third July police responded to reports of shot being fired in San Mateo Area of San Pedro. Officers were dispatched to the scene of the incident as well as the San Pedro Poly Clinic. At the San Pedro Polyclinic police encountered two men, Alfredo Trapp and Gabriel Villafranco, both of whom were seen suffering from two gunshots wounds to the upper parts of their bodies. Both men underwent treatment, however Trapp succumbed to the injuries he sustained. Villafranco is listed in stable condition. What police has gathered so far is that both men were on a golfcart in the San Mateo Area when they were accosted by two male persons who fired shots, injuring them.”

 

The black golf cart Alfredo Trapp and Gabriel Salazar were riding in tells a chilling story, bullet holes pierced the windshield, and bloodstains mark the seats. At the scene, police recovered eight spent shells, clear signs of the violence that unfolded. That golf cart is now parked at the San Pedro Police Station, impounded as part of the ongoing investigation. News Five also spoke with the mother of Trapp’s only daughter. She acknowledged his troubled past but shared that he had been working hard to turn his life around.

 

On the Phone: Elizabeth Vasquez, Ex-Partner of Deceased

“When I mih meet Alfredo he was a problem person. He was in and out of jail, in and out of jail and when he meet me, I was different. I am hard working person. He promised he would change his life. He stayed out of trouble for five, six years and we broke up. But he was never in problems. We broke up last year and told him Alfredo don’t forget you need to live for your daughter because then our daughter is an o positive blood just like him and I told him don’t forget the baby will always need your blood. He said yes Bella, I will always live for my daughter. So, all of this just hit like, I don’t know.”

Alfredo Trapp, who was killed, and Gabriel Villafranco Salazar, who survived, both had long histories with the law. Police records show Salazar has been accused of murder at least four times. And Trapp wasn’t far from controversy either; in late 2023, police issued a wanted poster for him in connection with the murder of twenty-three-year-old American nursing student J’Bria Bowens, who was gunned down in front of Jaguars Nightclub.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“While both Villafranco and Trapp are known to the police, no clear motive has been established in this investigation.”

Reporter

“From what the police knows so far, were these persons the targets of the shooters?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“It would want to appear so on the facts we have so far.”

 

Reporter

“There are a number of rivalries out there. Do you know any motives?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“No motive has been established so far, but I know that for the past few weeks there has been intensive operations in that area that has led to the recovery of weapons and drugs and police continue to monitor the situation in that area.”

 

There’s been a shake-up in leadership on Ambergris Caye, with a new officer now in charge of the San Pedro Police formation. But with that change comes a big question: were criminals quick to take advantage of the transition? It’s a theory that’s gaining traction, especially in the wake of Thursday night’s deadly shooting.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“We know criminals will strike at any given time. They don’t need a change of command to take actions they believe meet any needs they have. But what I can say is that the operations that have been conducted by the new officer in command have yielded a great deal of success and we expect that to continue.”

 

Gabriel Villafranco was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he is listed in stable condition. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

 

A community already shaken by tragedy is now gripped by frustration. Tonight, police are on high alert after a man charged with the cold-blooded murder of twenty-one-year-old Travis Swift has escaped custody. It was just weeks ago that a quiet night in Camalote Village turned into a nightmare. Travis had just returned from a quick store run when gunfire erupted, right inside his mother’s bedroom. Nearly thirty shell casings were found at the scene, the walls riddled with bullets, the windows shattered. His mother, Rosita Orellana, described it as something out of a war zone. Heartbreakingly, Travis is the second son she’s lost to gun violence in just seven years. Two men were charged, Michael Middleton and Kyle Roberts, but now, Middleton is on the run. Police are pleading with the public for help. Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith has more on this alarming development.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“ Today, fourth July, 2025, police formally arrested and charged two men in connection with the murder of Travis Darnell Swift, which occurred on thirteenth June, 2025, twenty-eight-year-old Michael Middleton, a Belizean construction worker, and twenty-three-year-old Kyle Roberts, a Belizean truck driver, both off Roaring Creek Village Cayo District have been jointly charged for the crime of murder. Regrettably, subsequent to Middleton’s arrest, he escaped from lawful custody, and as such is wanted by police. Middleton is medium built. He stands at approximately five feet eight inches in height, and is brown in complexion. The department anticipates that it’ll be able to apprehend Middleton in due course, but it takes the opportunity to remind the general public that it is an offense to knowingly harbor conceal or assist in the harboring or the concealing of a wanted person, and that offense is punishable with up to five years imprisonment.”

 

Reporter

“Should this individual be considered armed and dangerous?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“He is wanted for a crime of murder. Where in firearm was used? We know murder is a charge for which bail is not granted at the lower court. So those are considerations. So persons are encouraged to be on the report and be wary and certainly to pass on any information as it relates to Mr. Middleton.”