Grieving Mother Chooses Peace, Not Violence

A Belize City mother is choosing peace over retaliation after gun violence claimed her son’s life. Twenty-nine-year-old Charles Middleton died days after a gunman opened fire on four men near Cemetery Road on Halloween night. The attack also killed thirty-one-year-old Charles Nolberto and left two others injured. Police blame the bloodshed on a feud between opposing gangs, but as investigators search for a vehicle of interest, Middleton’s mother, Stephony Neal, says she wants no revenge. She simply wants to bury her son, protect her remaining children and see the violence end.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

As police try to contain gang violence under a State of Emergency, another Belize City family is preparing to bury a loved one. Charles Middleton was one of four men shot near Cemetery Road on Halloween night. Thirty-one-year-old Charles Nolberto died shortly after the attack. Middleton reportedly succumbed to his injuries days later. Police say the shooting stemmed from a feud between opposing gangs and helped trigger the State of Emergency.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer (File: November 2, 2026)

“As was indicated, which does form the basis of the actions taken today in terms of the SOE, it is gang rivalry, however it is not internal, but opposing gangs.”

 

But behind the police reports and gang labels is a mother struggling to accept that her son is gone.

 

Voice of: Stephony Neal, Mother of Deceased

“I can’t process this right now, miss, but I will try my best because at the end of the day, like, I still confused. I will tell you the truth, but I will come to grasp. I will to face it, you know, ’cause I have to. I’ll be strong ’cause I got my rest of babies there. I got my rest of kids. I got rest of family there, you know?”

 

Middleton was socializing in the Taylor’s Alley area with thirty-two-year-old Cesario Choco and two other men when a gunman opened fire. Middleton and Choco had previously faced a murder charge in the 2015 killing of Hattieville taxi driver Patrick Dean Spencer. The court freed both men after key eyewitnesses failed to support the prosecution’s case. Neal is now looking beyond her family’s loss. She says the cycle of violence threatens every child and every community in Belize.

 

Voice of: Stephony Neal

“I prayed day and night. Day, night, in between, and I not only pray for my kids, I pray for everybody. And I ask God, put a healing hand over this world because we need it. You understand? Because this da wa trend. We need it. We need it. Belize need it. All of we need it.”

 

This was not Middleton’s first encounter with gun violence. He was among six people injured in a Taylor’s Alley shooting in 2012. Fourteen years later, another shooting has claimed his life. Police are now searching for a vehicle identified through the Crime Fusion Center as part of the investigation.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“Police are seeking a vehicle of interest which has since been identified as a result of the efforts of the personnel at the crime fusion center in relation to the investigation into the murder of thirty-one-year-old Charles Nolberto and the shooting injury of twenty-nine-year-old Charles Middleton, thirty-two-year-old Cesario Choco and forty-three-year-old Cliford Olivera. The investigation commenced at approximately seven ten p.m. when officers were alerted to the sounds of shots being fired on Cemetery Road Belize City.”

 

For Neal, however, the investigation is only one part of the story. She wants people to remember her son for the love he shared, not only the violence surrounding his death.

 

Voice of: Stephony Neal

“My son, the tremendous pour out prayers and everything when my baby gone. I know I lied to you. I never know him is so love because he share a lot of love. He mi loving, to God. I di tell yo he always, anytime me meet people and, they hear say he mi done dead. They say, no, mein, he can’t. Watch yah I di tell you. I get pouring calls, texts. But you know what is good? I feel at ease. You know? I can’t do nothing else but feel at ease and pray for my rest of kids there, you know? I ask God, put a hand over everybody. Heal we.”

 

Police hope surveillance footage and other investigative technology will lead them to the gunman. Neal says she wants no retaliation. Her focus is on burying her son peacefully, protecting her remaining children and finding a way to heal. Britney Gordon for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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