Ellis Meighan Jr. Returned to Belize to Face Murder Charges After 15 Months in U.S. Custody

After more than a year in U.S. custody, thirty-two-year-old Ellis Meighan Junior is back on Belizean soil. Meighan had fled to the United States and sought asylum following the 2024 murder of Roy Lee Burgess on the Placencia Road, a case that shocked the community.

Authorities in Belize had identified Meighan as a suspect in the killing, and after spending fifteen months in U.S. detention, he has now been returned to face justice at home. This afternoon, Ellis Meighan touched down at the Philip Goldson International Airport, but he wasn’t traveling alone. Escorted by U.S. Marshals, Meighan was handed over to Belizean authorities shortly after arrival. The Belize Police Department has since taken custody of the murder suspect for processing, as the investigation into the 2024 killing of Roy Lee Burgess continues to unfold. Just over a month ago, tragedy struck the Meighan family.

On August first, Ellis Meighan’s younger brother, Tyrone, was gunned down in what police are calling a gangland-style execution. Tyrone had been visiting a home on Sarstoon Street when two men on a motorcycle pulled up and opened fire on his vehicle. Several bullets hit their mark, fatally wounding him in a brazen daylight attack. The Meighan brothers are no strangers to the law. In fact, their names have been turning up on police blotters for well over a decade. From murder and attempted murder to gang-related offenses, their rap sheet stretches all the way back to 2011, painting a long and troubling history with the criminal justice system. Now, circling back to that deadly shooting on the Placencia Peninsula, there was one survivor. Maia James, a Belizean-American woman, was with Roy Lee Burgess when gunfire erupted. She was shot, left for dead, and somehow, miraculously, lived to tell the tale. In a chilling account of the attack, James later identified the gunman as none other than Ellis Meighan Junior, also known by the street alias ‘Juice.’ Her testimony has become a key piece in the investigation. So far, the Belize Police Department has remained tight-lipped about Ellis Meighan’s return and where things stand in the criminal case against him. No official word yet, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on any developments.