This is a list of people reported killed by military and non-military law enforcement officers in Belize since the 2000s, whether in the line of duty or not, and regardless of reason or method. The listing documents the occurrence of a death, making no implications regarding wrongdoing or justification on the part of the person killed or officer involved. Killings are arranged by date of the incident that caused death. Different death dates, if known, are noted in the description or footnotes. The tables below list 66 people as of July 2025. [n 1]
Date | Name (age) | District (place) | Description | Ruling | Nb |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 Jun 2025 | Kevin de Paz (19) | Belize (Caye Caulker) | De Paz was stabbed and killed during a late night brawl on Luciano Reyes Street involving two off-duty police constabes. The officers alleged they acted in self-defence, but family were not convinced. | Two constables suspended; investigative outcome not clear | [1] |
25 Mar 2023 | Dyandre Chee (19) | Orange Walk (Orange Walk) | Police corporal Esmin Flores and police constable Salomen Cowo shot and killed Chee when he fled from arrest on a motorcycle on Boundary Road. Officers claimed they shot at Chee and a companion after hearing gunshots from the motorcycle. Chee's companion told police the sound officers heard was from the motorcycle engine, and further claimed officers used threats and intimidation to pressure him to recant his testimony. | Flores and Cowo arrested and charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 2] |
31 Dec 2022 | David Ramnarace, Jon Ramnarace, Vivian Ramnarace | Cayo (Belmopan) | Police corporal Elmer Nah allegedly shot and killed three members of the Ramnarace family as they celebrated New Year's Eve in their residence. | Nah charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 3] |
20 Dec 2022 | Andrew McDougal (25) | Stann Creek (Santa Cruz) | McDougal, a haemophiliac being arrested for public use of cannabis, was beaten and slammed against a police vehicle after being handcuffed by police officers John Lucas and Jameel Lewis, as per mobile phone footage. McDougal died two weeks later on 20 December of internal bleeding due to the beatings, per the autopsy report. | Lucas and Lewis suspended and charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 4] |
14 Aug 2022 | Derrick Uh (20) | Corozal (Corozal) | Uh was detained by police constable Errol Peralta for disorderly conduct and alleged sexual assault on 14 August in San Joaquin, Corozal. He was placed in a sealed prisoner van and later transported to the Corozal Police Station but was not removed from the vehicle until 13 hours later, when a police officer found his lifeless body. A postmortem determined Uh died due to heat stroke as a consequence of prolonged confinement in an enclosed space. | Two officers suspended and charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 5] |
5 Sep 2021 | Jesse Escobar (29) | Cayo (Santa Familia) | BDF private Raheem Valencio shot and killed Escobar in an altercation with a joint police-BDF patrol (with police officer Juan Morales and BDF soldier Ramon Alcoser) that had stopped a group of men at Branch Mouth Stop & Shop, a convenience store. The altercation allegedly started when the patrol directed a groupmember to wear a COVID-19 face mask properly. Surveillance footage showed Valencia brandishing his service M4 carbine at an unarmed Escobar after some heated words. | Valencio detained and charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 6] |
14 Jul 2021 | Laddie Gillett (14) | Stann Creek (Placencia) | Gillett was shot and killed by police officer Kareem Martinez as the latter chased Gillett and another young person while responding to a call regarding a burglary in progress. | Martinez convicted, 18 years' prison | [2] |
13 Oct 2020 | Akeem Tillett (33–34) | Belize (Coastal Rd) | Tillett, who had escaped prison on 12 October, was shot and killed during a firefight with police officers who were on the lookout for escapees. Tillett was allegedly armed with a stolen assault rifle. | ? | [3] |
19 Apr 2020 | Ulysease Roca (25) | Belize (Willows Bank) | Roca was found dead on 19 April, two weeks after he was beaten by a police officer while in police custody for allegedly breaking a COVID-19 curfew regulation. Roca alleged that police harassed and bullied and beat him for being gay. Roca’s family believed an injury from said police beatings developed an infection which proved fatal. | ? | [n 7] |
Date | Name (age) | District (place) | Description | Ruling | Nb |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 Jul 2019 | Allyson Major Jr (36) | Belize (Belize) | Police corporal Kent Martinez shot Major, a teacher, while in hot pursuit on Regent Street from a police vehicle after suspecting Major had purchased illegal drugs (cannabis). Major received a gunshot wound to the head and died while undergoing treatment. | Martinez acquitted | [n 8] |
Jun 2019 | Nestor Vasquez | Belize (Belize) | Two police officers at the Queen Street Police Station failed to intervene when a mentally disabled detainee inflicted fatal head injuries on Vasquez, their mentally disabled cellmate. | Two officers dismissed | [4] |
22 Feb 2018 | Ariel Salazar (46) | Orange Walk (Orange Walk) | Seven BDF soldiers and one police officer allegedly beat Salazar to death over a suspected mobile phone theft in his residence on San Antonio Road and Staines Alley. All but one of the soldiers or officer were allegedly masked. | Soldiers and officer charged; case dismissed | [n 9] |
14 Jan 2018 | Mario Vernon Jr (24) | Toledo (Punta Gorda) | A purportedly inebriated police constable, Tevin Aranda, allegedly shot and killed Vernon, grandson of Leela Vernon, in a neighbour's residence on George Price Street. Aranda claimed Vernon had a firearm in hand, but witnesses contradicted the constable's account. | Aranda suspended and charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 10] |
15 Aug 2017 | Dwayne Almendarez (30–31) | Orange Walk (Yo Creek) | Customs officer Rudolph Williams shot Almendarez in the chest, abdomen, and leg during an anti-smuggling customs-BDF bus search. Almendarez had reportedly charged at Williams when prompted to hand over his allegedly uncustomed goods. Almendarez's family claim he was unarmed. Almendarez died while in an induced coma on 19 August. | Williams charged; trial outcome not clear | [5] |
9 Jun 2017 | Richard Garcia (44) | Corozal (Chunox) | Four police officers shot and killed Garcia after he allegedly approached the officers with a machete during a routine eviction. Neighbours rejected this account, describing Garcia as 'peaceful, humble and hardworking.' | Investigative outcome not clear | [n 11] |
Mar 2017 | unnamed man (30) | Belize (San Pedro) | Three police officers allegedly beat a man to death while in custody on disorderly conduct charges. | Officers charged; trial outcome not clear | [6] |
20 Apr 2016 | Julio Alvarado Ruano (14) | Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) | Alvarado Ruano was shot and killed by forest rangers during a joint border patrol with soldiers. | Investigation clears rangers | [n 12] |
7 Mar 2016 | Edwin Ixpatac (30) | Belize (San Pedro) | Ixpatac, a bartender, was detained on 3 March on disorderly conduct charges. Despite being injured prior to arrest, police did not seek medical attention for Ixpatac. Video footage showed police constables Rommel Logan, Reydel Teck, and Jahisir Cobb beating Ixpatac that night. He was found unconscious the next morning, a post mortem revealing he had died on 7 March from a blow to the head received during his detention. | Logan, Tech, and Cobb convicted | [n 13] |
8 Jun 2015 | Hilberto Sotz (18) | Belize (Caye Caulker) | Sotz was fatally brutalised while in custody by police officers Leonard Nunez and Hallet King. Sotz had been detained pending the investigation of a series of burglaries. According to an alleged witness, Nunez and King tortured Sotz and put a plastic bag over his head. An autopsy concluded that Sotz died from major internal bleeding and trauma caused by excessive force. | Nunez and King convicted, 9 months' prison | [n 14] |
15 Dec 2014 | Peter Castillo Jr (21) | Belize (Bacalar Chico) | Castillo, an alleged playador (person combing beach for washed up cocaine parcels), was killed during a shootout with coast guard officers who were patrolling the park. The officers claimed they were returning fire. | Investigative outcome not clear | [7] |
29 Mar 2014 | Tomas Desdicho Ramirez (29) | Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) | BDF soldiers fatally injured Desdicho Ramirez, a campesino (farmer) of San Marcos, Peten, during a routine border patrol with police and forest rangers. The patrol came across a group of allegedly armed Guatemalan civilians illicitly farming in the protected park. When ordered to surrender themselves, the men allegedly opened fire on the patrol. | Investigative outcome not clear | [8] |
24 Feb 2014 | Moses Williams (25) | Toledo (Big Falls) | A special constable and a regular constable shot Williams while trying to subdue him after he injured one of the officers with a machete. The special constable was hospitalised, while Williams later died from the shooting. Williams's family filed complaints against the constables, arguing they mishandled the incident, in part because Williams suffered from a mental disorder. | Internal investigation clears constables | [n 15] |
19 Apr 2013 | Ryan Lozano (21) | Belize (Ladyville) | Police shot Lozano while responding to a burglary in progress on 18 April. Police alleged the victim exited the home wielding a knife and crowbar and advanced towards them before one officer shot him once in the abdomen. The victim’s family alleged that police shot him three times in the back while he was on the ground in police custody. Lozano succumbed to his injuries on 19 April. | Investigative outcome not clear | [9] |
5 Oct 2012 | Francisco Quin Yat (37) | Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) | A BDF soldier on border patrol shot and killed Quin Yat, a campesino (farmer) of Monte los Olivos, Peten, allegedly after the machete-wielding farmer kept advancing on the soldier despite warning shots. | ? | [10] |
18 Jul 2012 | Luis Martinez Alonzo | Toledo (Columbia Forest) | BDF soldiers on border patrol shot and killed Martinez Alonzo, a Guatemalan national, upon discovering an illegal logging operation in the forest reserve. | Investigative outcome not clear | [n 16] |
7 Jul 2012 | Kendal Flowers (18), Alexander Mazariegos (22), Alley Garcia (23) | Belize (Bacalar Chico) | Flowers, Mazariegos, and Garcia were killed during a firefight with coast guard officers and BDF soldiers. The joint patrol had been sweeping the border park after reports of organised criminal activity in the area. | Investigative outcome not clear | [11] |
22 Apr 2012 | Arthur Young | Belize (Belize) | Young was shot and killed when a firearm went off during a struggle with a police officer, who police claim was trying to frustrate an escape attempt by Young. | None | [n 17] |
28 Jan 2012 | Juan Choc Chub (29) | Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) | BDF soldiers on border patrol shot and killed Choc Chub, a Guatemalan national, allegedly for poaching in the forest reserve. | ? | [n 18] |
10 May 2010 | Alex Goff (31) | Belize (Caye Caulker) | Police constable Alpheus Parham allegedly shot and killed Goff while in custody after being arrested at the Lazy Lizard, a bar, for disorderly conduct and assaulting a police officer. | Parham charged; trial outcome not clear | [12] |
27 Feb 2010 | Teddy Murillo (21) | Belize (Belize) | Murillo, a UB student and Adventist deacon, was shot and killed while biking home on Waight Street by an unknown suspect in a moving vehicle. Murillo reportedly had been involved in an altercation with a police officer earlier the same evening, and the family alleged that said police officer had committed the killing. | Investigative outcome not clear | [n 19] |
13 Feb 2010 | Anthony Jones (41) | Belize (Lords Bank) | Police corporal Jorge Lemus shot and killed Jones, a Jamaican national, as he rode away from a fight outside Ruba's Bar. Eyewitnesses alleged the victim posed no threat to Lemus and police constable Lazaro Catch, but the officers claimed he carried a shiny object the corporal mistook for a gun. | Lemus and Catch charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 20] |
Date | Name (age) | District (place) | Description | Ruling | Nb |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | unnamed man | Orange Walk (?) | A reportedly inebriated man was shot in the leg by a joint patrol of police officers and soldiers, allegedly for resisting arrest despite warning shots. The man later succumbed to his injury in hospital. | Officers charged; trial outcome not clear | [n 21] |
22 Dec 2009 | Christopher Galvez (23) | Belize (Belize) | Galvez was fatally shot in the head by an unknown suspect in the Pipersburgh Boatyard. Galvez's family alleged a police officer killed Galvez. | Inquiry clears police | [n 22] |
Aug 2009 | unnamed boy (17) | Belize (Belize) | A 17 year old boy was allegedly beaten to death by police officers while in custody on charges of robbery. Witnesses claimed the boy was last seen with the officers in a police vehicle before his body was found. | None | [13] |
11 Jun 2009 | Onario Oba (19) | Orange Walk (Douglas) | Customs officer Charles Flores allegedly shot and killed Oba in the face during a confrontation between a routine anti-smuggling patrol and a group of alleged smugglers from San Victor, Corozal. The joint police-customs-BDF patrol had earlier seized $10,000 worth of uncustomed goods in San Victor. Officers alleged they fired warning shots as the group were armed with machetes, sticks, and stones, but Oba's father stated his son had been an innocent bystander. | Flores charged; trial outcome not clear | [14] |
Mar 2009 | unnamed man (20) | Belize (Belize) | A man was shot and killed by a police officer during an alleged robbery attempt. Witnesses claimed the officer stood over him and shot him in the face. | None | [15] |
2 Feb 2009 | Atanacio Gutierrez (44) | Orange Walk (Tower Hill) | Gutierrez, a cane farmer, was shot and killed by police during a labour protest. | Investigative outcome not clear | [16] |
3 Aug 2008 | Carmen Herrera (49) | Belize (Belize) | Herrera was shot (in the back of the head) and killed on Swing Bridge by a police constable in pursuit. The officer claimed Herrera had been armed, but family and witnesses contradicted this. | Constable acquitted | [n 23] |
1 Nov 2007 | Jimmy Montano Gutierrez (26) | Belize (San Pedro) | Montano Gutierrez was shot and killed on Seaweed Street in San Juan by police officers, who claimed he had aimed a gun at them. Neighbours contradicted this account, saying Montano Guitierrez held a beer bottle, not a gun. | Investigative outcome not clear | [n 24] |
16 Aug 2005 | Andrew Wallace (13) | Belize (Belize) | Wallace was shot and killed on East Collet Canal by police constable Randy Sanchez, who claimed the former had been armed. | Investigation clears Sanchez | [17] |
12 Feb 2005 | Leslie Rogers Jr (21) | Belize (Belize) | Rogers, a St John's sixth former, was shot in the head and killed on Amara Avenue by police constable Aldo Ayuso. | Ayuso acquitted | [18] |
12 Feb 2004 | Leroy Pilgrim | Belize (San Pedro) | Pilgrim was shot and killed by police constable Burton Caliz during a search of Pilgrim's boat. Caliz claimed a struggle over an unlicensed firearm led to the shooting, but no evidence was found for said claim. | Caliz convicted | [19] |
29 Sep 2003 | Frederick Espinoza | Toledo (Punta Negra) | Police were called to Espinoza's residence after an altercation with his uncle, and reportedly found him armed with a machete. Witnesses reported that officers flung stones at Espinoza and then fatally shot him four times as he tried to flee. Espinoza was believed to have been suffering from a mental illness. | ? | [n 25] |
10 Sep 2003 | Aaron Mariano | Belize (Belize) | Mariano was shot and killed by BDF private Giovanni Gutierrez while on a routine patrol with police (including constable Dennis Palacio). Press reported Mariano was unarmed and fleeing (as the patrol tried to detain him) when Gutierrez shot him in the back of the head. | Gutierrez and Palacio convicted; overturned on appeal; case dropped | [n 26] |
20 Aug 2003 | Mark Stuart | Belize (Hattieville) | Stuart was shot and killed by corrections officers at Central Prison, allegedly upon attacking an officer with a knife and refusing to back down despite a warning shot fired into his leg. Media reported Stuart was shot 49 times. | Investigative outcome unclear | [n 27] |
17 Jun 2003 | Kirk Belisle | Belize (Hattieville) | Belisle (a burglarly convict) was stabbed and killed by convicted murder Phillip Tillett, who had 'walked past security and left the maximum-security section' of Central Prison to do so. Corrections officers denied seeing the stabbing. | ? | [n 28] |
14 Jun 2003 | Darnell McDonald (28) | Belize (Ladyville) | McDonald was shot in the neck and killed by police constable Sherwood Wade when police officers fired into a crowd outside Celina's Nightclub. Officers alleged the crowd fired on them as they tried to detain McDonald. | Wade convicted, $15,000 fine | [n 29] |
7 Jun 2003 | Ruben Alarcon | Belize (Caye Caulker) | An unarmed Alarcon, who had come to the station seeking the release of two friends, was shot in the back of the head at close range by police constable Sheldon Arzu. When he fell, Alarcon was reportedly again shot at close range. | Arzu convicted, 13 years' prison | [n 30] |
30 Dec 2002 | Albert Pennil | Belize (Belize) | Pennil was shot and killed outside a restaurant, with police constable Kevin Alvarez and his two brothers arrested on suspicion of murder. | Alvarez charged; charges dropped | [n 31] |
27 Sep 2002 | Alfredo Chen, Seriano Choc | Toledo (Otoxha) | Chen and Choc were shot and killed in a confrontation with two police officers, while the latter (with two forestry officers) tried to confiscate illegally logged mahogany. The machete-wielding villagers allegedly formed a mob of 30 which advanced on the officers. | Inquiry clears officers | [n 32] |
6 Jul 2002 | Gian Godoy (22) | Belize (Hattieville) | Godoy, a diabetic inmate in Central Prison, died of diabetes-related complications. The lack of a duty nurse on weekends is thought to have contributed to the death. | ? | [20] |
9 Jan 2002 | Kirk Thompson (22), Edmund Velasquez | Belize (Maskall) | The bodies of Thompson and Velasquez were found in Northern River on 9 January. An autopsy found they had died of drowning, with no sign of foul play. Their family were convinced police had killed them, and several members of the Police Department had told press 'the two men would never be taken alive.' | Investigative outcome not clear | [n 33] |
22 Nov 2001 | Jesus Ramirez Solano (61), Jesus Ramirez Icho, Virgilio Ramirez Icho | Toledo (San Vicente) | A Guatemalan farmer (Ramirez Solano) and his two sons were shot and killed by soldiers during a BDF-police border patrol. Soldiers alleged the father approached with a machete and did not stop when ordered. | Investigative findings differed; inquiry clears officers | [n 34] |
Oct 2001 | George Hyde | Cayo (Benque Viejo) | Hyde, whom police apparently suspected of drug dealing, was shot and killed by police officers after he refused to stop at a police checkpoint at the town's entrance. Officers claimed Hyde had fired at them first. Hyde's family contested this, noting Hyde had bruises on his face, and noting there were no bullet holes in his car, nor blood in the front seat. | Investigation clears officers | [21] |
31 Aug 2001 | Frederick Reynolds (18) | Belize (Crooked Tree) | Police constable Marvin Vernon shot and killed Reynolds, apparently as revenge for testimony against Vernon in a police brutality case on 13 August. The constable claimed their gun went off accidentally, but a witness already in custody stated that he saw Vernon throw Reynolds into a police vehicle, beat him, pull out their service pistol, and shoot Reynolds in the chest. | Vernon convicted, $5,000 fine and 9 months' prison | [n 35] |
19 Aug 2000 | Leslie Smith | Belize (Belize) | Smith was reportedly killed by two police officers while they attempted to arrest him on East Collet Canal. The officers claimed Smith was armed with a knife, but witnesses apparently contested this. | Investigative outcome not clear | [n 36] |
17 Mar 2000 | Cecil Ramirez | Belize (Hattieville) | An inmate was shot and killed by a corrections officer during a prison riot of some 300–400 inmates (protesting 16 March floggings) at Central Prison. | Inquest outcome not clear | [n 37] |
24 Feb 2000 | Kelvin Barrow (24) | Belize (Belize) | Barrow drowned after being chased into the sea off Port Loyola by a machete-wielding off-duty police officer. | Inquest outcome not clear | [n 38] |
24 Jan 2000 | Samuel Ramirez | Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) | Ramirez, a Guatemalan farmer, was shot and killed by six soldiers near the border, purportedly after attacking the soldiers. | Inquiry clears soldiers | [22] |