Today, a twenty-three-year-old man named Brett Mejia was sent to prison after being accused of trying to murder his sister’s boyfriend. His family insists he was acting in self-defense. Over the weekend, reports started circulating about a man who had stabbed his sister’s boyfriend, allegedly to stop him from raping her. Mejia, a self-employed food vendor, showed up in court without a lawyer and faced charges of attempted murder and using deadly means of harm against twenty-four-year-old Kenroy Lanza. Because of the serious nature of the crime, Mejia didn’t enter a plea and was remanded to Belize Central Prison until January sixth, 2025. After the court session, his sister shared her side of the story, explaining what led to her brother’s arrest.
Voice of: Mejia’s Sister
Voice of: Mejia’s Sister
“He grabbed me and my shirt and I end up to release me hard. And I run ova to my ma. When I run ova to my ma, he run behind me with a knife and a machete fi want chop my ma. I mi di try help my ma get the machete and I couldn’t get ot so I run gone hail my breda. My breda reach, when my breda come, my breda mi di try get the knife and the machete but the knife end up di turn right back round and stab my bwai.”
Reporter
“So your brother came to your aid because of what he saw your boyfriend was doing to you?”
Voice of: Mejia’s Sister
“Yes ma’am.”
Reporter
“You said that you all went to make a report but the police she, you di talk lone fool?”
Voice of: Mejia’s Sister
“He said I dih seh lone stupidness. Nothing weh I di seh di mek sense. Well my brother mi charge but ih noh done because weh happen I noh think I could get he back because dat da past craziness. Just mek he keep fi he way. Best thing I could do da just get wa restraining order. What he want give he son, he could give ih son through the police. I wa try fight it with my baby the best I could because I no wa left nobody fi kill my ma and me and just go like that. And now my brother gone da jail.”
Tonight, four men from the Faber’s Road area, including a police officer, are behind bars at the Belize Central Prison for the Monday morning murder of taxi driver Shawn Ortiz. The suspects are thirty-five-year-old Kyle Domingo from Madam Liz Avenue, twenty-eight-year-old Gasman Jones from Rio Bravo Crescent, forty-seven-year-old Charles Alexander Brown, who works for the Leadership Intervention Unit, and twenty-three-year-old Police Constable Peter Perez, also from Rio Bravo Crescent. They appeared in court without lawyers at around ten a.m., where the magistrate charged them with murder for the incident on Jaguar Avenue. The magistrate told the men that they couldn’t enter a plea because the charges are indictable offenses. Since the charges are serious, they couldn’t be granted bail and were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until January sixth, 2025. Domingo asked if he could get a copy of the case facts, and the magistrate ordered that each defendant be given one right away. They handed these documents to their attorney. Outside the courtroom, Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson said he is representing PC Perez and Jones, while the other two men are still without legal representation. Before the arraignment wrapped up, it came to light that Domingo owed the court five hundred dollars from a COVID-19 pandemic conviction. He seemed surprised and said he thought the charge had been dismissed. Charles Brown was also informed that he owed three hundred and five dollars. The magistrate told them that their warrants would be sent up so they could serve out their fines in prison while on remand.
The High Court has called for a detailed psychiatric evaluation of Elvira Mulholland, the woman who shot her husband on the Coastal Plain Highway. On Saturday, October twenty-sixth, Elvira and her husband, Jeffrey Mulholland, got into a heated argument. Jefrey left the house in his car, but Elvira allegedly chased him down in her own vehicle and shot him in the head. She then reportedly robbed him of an iPhone 16 worth four thousand and nine thousand dollars in cash. Miraculously, Jeffrey lived to tell the tale. Elvira was arraigned on Monday, October twenty eighth, and tonight, she remains behind bars because her bail application wasn’t heard. The judge, after reviewing the case details, ordered a thorough psychiatric evaluation to determine if she’s fit to be in society. As a result, the bail hearing has been postponed to November twenty-fifth. We’ll keep you updated as this story unfolds.
Tonight, a mother of four, Shareema Neal, is celebrating her freedom after being acquitted of the murder of seventeen-year-old Jasmine Petillo. Back in 2016, Jasmine’s body was found in Mahogany Heights Village, brutally stabbed multiple times. Five years later, D.N.A. evidence linked blood found in Neal’s home to Jasmine, leading to Neal’s arrest. The prosecution claimed the murder was revenge, as Jasmine was the last person Neal’s late boyfriend contacted before his sudden death. Two months after Jasmine’s murder, Neal’s house was burned down, and while pregnant, she was charged with murder. But tonight, Neal is back with her family. Her attorney, Lynden Jones, shared the key factors that led to her acquittal.
Lynden Jones
Lynden Jones, Attorney of Acquitted
“The judge stated that The Crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was guilty of the offense. She is now a free lady after she was claiming her innocence from the beginning. The trial was done in September. We got a decision today. Trial was a short trial, two days. No person could have identified my client. However, the Crown relied heavily on the investigating officer and on DNA evidence. And we are of the opinion that the DNA evidence did not support the Crown’s case fully. And the investigating officer did not really assist the Crown as much as they needed. We did not get a written submission today. We only got a summary and an oral verdict. But the verdict was positive for my client.”
Reporter
“But tell us, let’s go back a little bit about when this incident first occurred and your client was accused. How did they even link her, aside from the DNA, as a suspect in this murder?”
Lynden Jones
“My client was in a relationship with a known person to the law. And that person was lured to his death. They alleged that the last person who had communication with her deceased common-law was the person who was murdered, Miss Jasmine Petillo. However, that is what the Crown wanted to state, that it was revenge, that Miss Shareema Neal had some involvement or was the main person for the murder of Jasmine Petillo due to the fact that Her ex-commandant in law was worried to her death When they did luminal testing in the house, a little bit of blood was found in the house, and it was sent out for DNA testing abroad, and that’s when they found partial matches of what was could have been Miss Jasmine Petillo’s blood. It was not one hundred percent certain and therefore that is why Miss Neal was charged for the murder of Miss Jasmine Petillo. But we had discrepancies in the case as it pertains to, was it the exact house? Was it twenty-eight where Miss Neal resides? Or was it twenty-eight B, another house? Or what could have been another house? As was stated in the search warrant, where they exactly found the blood is still in question, for since then one of the homes has burned up.”
After nearly two months behind bars, American national Gilbert Lightburn Junior is finally a free man. The forty-one-year-old firefighter faced several criminal charges, including three counts of attempted murder, following a September incident at Shisha’s nightclub in Belize City. The altercation escalated, resulting in three people being stabbed, which led to Lightburn’s charges. However, he insisted he was only defending himself and had no intention of harming anyone. During the chaos, Lightburn was robbed of personal items, including two gold chains worth around seventy thousand Belizean dollars. Today, Lightburn, who had been on remand at the Belize Central Prison, was brought to court where all charges were dropped, and he was declared a free man. The virtual complainants, Ian and Javon Abraham, Mark Usher, and Giovanni Abraham, who Lightburn was accused of attempting to murder and using deadly means of harm against, discovered they were related to him and decided to drop all charges.
This morning, convicted sex offender Bert Vasquez made a return to the Court of Appeal after a five-year hiatus. Back in 2019, Vasquez, unrepresented, attempted to challenge the four-year sentence he received in November 2018 for attempted rape. However, his appeal was dismissed due to insufficient evidence. Currently serving a ten-year sentence for the forcible abduction and sexual assault of a sixteen-year-old girl, Vasquez is once again seeking the court’s reconsideration. The specifics of his latest appeal remain undisclosed, as media access was restricted by the President of the Court of Appeals. Presenting his case without legal representation, Vasquez addressed Justices Minett Hafiz-Bertram, Woodstock Riley, and Peter Foster, who, along with the Director of Public Prosecutions, participated virtually. The court has reserved its decision on today’s proceedings, with no date set for the next session.
Tonight, a shocking case of alleged human trafficking has come to light involving an Indian national. Forty-six-year-old Harish Kishanchand, the owner of Chic’s and Harry’s Import in Belize City, stands accused by his former employee of withholding food, pay, and even his passport. The accuser, a twenty-one-year-old Indian national, claims that while still in India, he was offered a job as a salesperson through a broker, with promises of six-hour workdays from Monday to Friday and a monthly salary of twenty-five thousand Indian Rupees, to be deposited into his family’s account. He was also assured of travel and accommodation arrangements, along with a worker’s permit and visa. However, upon arriving in Belize, the reality was starkly different. The victim alleges that his passport and cellphone were confiscated, and he was not allowed to travel unsupervised. He further claims he was subjected to beatings, forced to work from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week, and was only fed leftover food twice a day. This morning, Kishanchand, represented by attorney Jacqueline Willoughby, was informed that he will stand trial for human trafficking. He was granted bail set at six thousand dollars, with an equal surety, which he met this afternoon.
A security guard of Ambergris Caye has been fined four hundred dollars for slapping his common-law wife. Forty-year-old Jose Garcia was arraigned in the magistrate’s court today and admitted to slapping Norma Noh twice. The incident happened on Saturday at their residence thirteen miles north of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. In the absence of a magistrate in San Pedro on Tuesday, Garcia was brought to the Belize City Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of harm. He expressed remorse and told the court that he should have thought before reacting. The magistrate told Garcia that while he saved court time by pleading guilty early, the fact that he slapped Noh not once but twice was an aggravating factor. Since he is a first-time offender, however, and because he expressed remorse, she did not impose a custodial sentence. In a report to police, Noh stated that at around four o’clock Saturday evening, she left work and got a ride on a golf cart, and Garcia met her, and they headed home. According to Noh, they got into an argument, and that’s when Garcia assaulted her. A doctor has classified her injuries as harm, and Noh requested court action against Garcia. He was given until December twentieth to pay the fine; in default, he’ll spend three months behind bars.
Elmer Nah was charged in September for the triple murder that took place on New Year’s Eve 2022 in Belmopan. Since his arrest nearly two years ago, Nah has maintained his innocence. A crucial piece of evidence is a video from the victims’ home surveillance system, capturing the shooter in the act. However, the video doesn’t clearly identify the shooter. Nah insists it’s not him, while investigators believe they have the right man. Nah has hired Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, well known for his unconventional defense strategies. Smith is now working to enhance the video, hoping to prove Nah’s innocence. News Five’s Paul Lopez has more on this story.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Three weeks ago, Elmer Nah was charged with six counts related to the brutal triple murder of Jon, David, and Vivian Ramnarace on New Year’s Eve 2022 in Belmopan. Investigators are convinced that Nah is the shooter seen in the victims’ home surveillance footage from that horrific night. This video is a key piece of evidence, but questions remain about its clarity. Nah’s lawyer, Godfrey Smith, has enlisted a U.S. video and audio forensics firm to enhance the footage, hoping to clear his client’s name.
Godfrey Smith
Godfrey Smith, Attorney-At-Law
“The video of the shooter on premises of the deceased person, shooting, will feature prominently. We have retained a highly reputable forensics video and audio forensics firm in Los Angeles to have a look at that, because it holds the answer to who did the shooting, if it can be enhanced.”
Nah claims innocence. On January third, 2023, while being escorted to the Belmopan Magistrate Court, Nah asserted that he was being wrongfully accused.
Elmer Nah
Elmer Nah (File: Jan 3rd, 2023)
“I just want to say I the be wrongfully accused, wrongfully accused breda, wrongfully.”
Earlier this year, on April eleventh, News Five got hold of a letter written by Nah from prison, where he claimed that an enhanced version of the surveillance footage from the night of the triple murder would prove his innocence. Addressing these claims, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told reporters that the department has strong evidence against Nah, while also discussing the potential of enhancing the video.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police (File: April 11th, 2024)
“We have solicited the assistance of the U. S. Embassy and we had sent that video footage abroad and to some extent it was enhanced. Not as good as we wanted to, but the experts in the U. S. um, did do what they could do with it for us.”
Even though he is an ex-police officer, Nah is no stranger to running afoul of the law. He has faced ammunition and firearms related charges for which he has been found not guilty. The ex-cop is now dealing with multiple charges from a drug plane landing in Bladen Village back in November 2021, on top of the charges for the December 2023 triple murder in Belmopan. Just days after that tragic night, a relative of one of the victims shared their thoughts.
Deon Pascasio
Deon Pascasio, Relative of Murder Victims (File: Jan 17th, 2023)
“There are questions in the back of our minds, especially when we look at all that has been surfacing, that this particular individual, alleged perpetrator has been charged and has been involved in several different incidents and crime and has been able to walk away from every single one of them whatever reason, and that gives us some cause for concern.”
Attorney Godfrey Smith shared that the video and audio forensics firm they’ve hired believes the widely circulated surveillance footage has been distorted.
Godfrey Smith
“What they have come back to say is that look, the CD that you have may have been distorted. You need to get the video from the original recording source if there is to be a chance of seeing the face of the shooter.”
He noted that his firm has requested an original copy of the footage from the Belize Police Department.
Godfrey Smith
“They were able to point out on the recording we have that it was obviously adopted from the original source and that we need to get hold of the original source. We have also made an application to get contents of Mr. Nah’s phone and other things that are in the possession of the police.”
Belize City residents, twenty-year-old Janiece Augustine and her twenty-four-year-old sister, Janiene Augustine, are set to stand trial for arson. The sisters were charged for allegedly setting fire to a home in Crooked Tree Village back in July 2022. The wooden house was valued at thirty thousand dollars, and the household items inside were worth two thousand dollars. This week, their case wrapped up a preliminary inquiry before a Senior Magistrate, and it’s now headed to the High Court for trial in January 2025. During the inquiry, the police prosecutor presented over thirty witness statements to support the charges against the sisters. Interestingly, they weren’t charged with arson until two years later, on April twelfth, following directives from the DPP. Today, they were granted bail of eight thousand dollars each, with two sureties of four thousand dollars each, which they managed to meet by the end of the day. On top of that, Janiece picked up an additional charge for aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument—a hammer—related to an incident on September thirtieth. She pleaded not guilty and was granted bail of two thousand dollars, which she also met. Janiece is due back in court on December second.
