Gun Violence Claims Another Tillett Brother

Tonight, heartbreak grips a Belize City family after twenty-two-year-old Daniel Tillett was gunned down early Saturday morning. Just minutes from his home on Antelope Street, Daniel was ambushed by several gunmen who opened fire, leaving him fatally wounded. His death comes only two years after his younger brother, Gabriel, was murdered at just eighteen. Now, the family faces not only unimaginable grief but also the burden of funeral costs and their mother’s battle with cancer. News Five’s Britney Gordon has the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Twenty-two-year-old Daniel Tillett was less than a minute away from his home on Antelope Street when tragedy struck. On Saturday, around twelve-thirty a.m., he was ambushed by three gunmen and shot dead. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Stacy Smith says the entire incident was captured on surveillance footage which is now under police review.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Initial investigations revealed that Tillett was traveling on a motorcycle on Antelope Street from the direction of Marlene Leslie Street, heading towards Hilda Foreman Street, when three male persons each armed with a firearm exited a yard on Antelope Street extension, and fired several shots to him, which resulted in his fatal injury. The three male persons then made go their escape onto Ruben Morales Street in that area. The scene was processed and the body of Tillett was transported to the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital, where it now awaits a post-mortem examination.”

 

Tillett had been on his way home from the casino and had been in communication with his mother, Denise Stewart, shortly before he was attacked. She says that she heard when the gunshots rang out but did not imagine that her son was the target.

 

Denise Stewart, Mother of Deceased

“ I thought it was dynamite. I thought the first set of sounds that I heard was dynamite, but I hear a lot of dynamite buss and then I hear a lot of gunshot. But after that, so I called my son on WhatsApp. No, I no call him, I sent him a WhatsApp voice clip and I tell ah Dan, wa lotta gunshots di buss oan Antelope street right now. So mind how you di come in, not knowing that da my sone ney di kill right there.”

 

According to his family, Tillett had been receiving threats from various people in the neighborhood and had even sought asylum in the United States. Stewart claims that after Tillett chose to return, he had been trying to live a quiet life, to provide for his mother, who is battling cancer, and young daughter.

 

Denise Stewart

“He went away because people was targeting him long time. He was charged once for robbery at La Popular, he was a child at that time. So he went to bootcamp for that. Then police keep on. Because we are living in the area. Everything sometimes happen, The police come pick him up for it. He even got charged for a gang affiliation and that he was not in no gang. He was working.”

 

His death, hits especially hard for the family as Daniel’s brother, Gabriel Tillett, was also murdered back in 2023. Although police have no motive currently for Daniel’s death, they believe it is linked to feuding groups in that area.

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“No motive has been established so far. However, we do have reasons to suspect that Mr. Tillett was an active player in the activities in that area.”

 

Tillett was previously charged with the 2022 murder of Derron Hernandez and being a member of a gang in 2023. Stewart denies that her son was involved in gang activity as he had been employed at the time he was charged and maintains that there was not sufficient evidence to link him to the murder.

 

Denise Stewart

“Sometimes when I hear stories like denya, and you don’t even know the people’s ney. But one person have to start wa stupid comment and say, oh, you live by the gun, you wa dead by the gun. Oh, he mi bad bwai. But no care weh yo do in your life that no means somebody have to kill yo.”

 

As the family copes with this immense loss, they are hoping that Daniel is remembered for his kindness and jovial attitude, police are still seeking suspects at this time. Britney Gordon for News Five.