Nineteen-Year-Old Charged in Kareem Garcia Murder

Police have made an arrest in the murder of twenty-three-year-old Kareem Garcia, formally charging nineteen-year-old Leon St. Clair with the crime. St. Clair, described by police as an unemployed resident of Belize City, was charged today, more than a week after the deadly daylight shooting. Garcia, a resident of Unitedville, was working alongside other men at a road construction site in Cotton Tree Village on Monday, August thirty-first, when two men reportedly approached on a motorcycle. Police say one of the men pulled out a firearm and fired several shots at Garcia, fatally injuring him before both assailants escaped. In the days following the murder, police said they had not established a motive. Investigators were also examining whether Garcia’s killing was connected to a double murder that occurred days earlier in Santa Elena. ASP Stacy Smith said investigators were pursuing the possibility that the violence was linked to the sale of drugs in the area, but stressed that police had not established any conclusive connection between the incidents. The case also drew additional attention ahead of Garcia’s funeral, when a confrontation erupted between police and members of his family at the Unitedville Cemetery. Relatives accused the officers of disrupting preparations at his tomb, and footage shared online reportedly captured a heated exchange that later became physical. The investigation has now moved from the search for a suspect to the court process, with St. Clair facing a murder charge. Police have not disclosed what evidence led investigators to him or whether they are searching for anyone else in connection with the attack.

 

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