Shane Williams Reporting…

Grief now fills the Usher family yard, after forty‑three‑year‑old Marlon Usher was stabbed to death Sunday night outside his usual hangout on Dorris Brooks Crescent. Trouble had been brewing since Friday, when a man confronted him over accusations involving a woman. Neighbors thought the argument had cooled, but it flared back up when the same man returned with a knife and attacked. Usher collapsed in the yard and died on the way to the KHMH, leaving his mother, Brenda Usher, devastated.

                      Brenda Usher

Brenda Usher, Mother of Deceased

“How they wa kill my lee bwai weh da wa hard working boy? Weh work every day? They wa kill my lee boy fi wa woman but ah noh wa di call name but I noh know if da that but that da part ah it.”

Brenda Usher is still recovering from a stroke, but now she’s facing an even heavier burden, finding the strength to bury her son, the premature baby she once nicknamed ‘Tiny,’ who grew into a kind, hardworking man she says never looked for trouble.

Brenda Usher

“He da wa nice person. He wa laugh. He da like the lee clown and di give the jokes. Yes, he wah got yo the laugh although yo vex sometime with ah. Although ah vex sometime with ah and ah the rail up with ah fi left lone them woman. Find yoself wa good gyal weh want yo and you want ya. And ah neva done til a mek they separate. And ah tell the gyal to ah tell left lone my son because da lee bwai wa kill my son because da lee bwai da wa murderer. Ah noh fraid fi she it.”

Shane Williams

“And now you have to bury your son while you’re still recovering from a stroke. How will you deal with this?”

Brenda Usher

“I noh have no kinda thing fi seh money fi bury my son  soh I would want ask the public or anybody weh want help me fi please come help me.”

Police are looking for one suspect as they investigate the fatal stabbing.

                      Stacy Smith

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police are seeking one male person  in connection with the fatal stabbing of forty-three-year-old Marlon Usher, which occurred around nine fifteen p.m. on Sunday, February twenty-second. What we know so far in the course of this investigation is that Usher was walking on Dorris Brooks Street when he was accosted by the suspect who inflicted the fatal injuries to him.”

Through tears, she says the accused is someone who grew up around her family, a painful reality that makes the loss even harder to understand.

Brenda Usher

“I know the person good. The person grew up with them, with my children them. That person grow with them, come up with them and that person I could call ih name because da {suspect name} killed my son, but one thing I got to tell {suspect name} ih wa turn inna ih own traps. Ih gwen inna ih own traps. We noh wa du ah nothing. Ih gwen mess with the wrong person and that waw eh wa happen cause when yo do bad, bad follow yo.”

Neighbors along Arlington Drive and Dorris Brooks Crescent say Marlon Usher was the go‑to handyman who never hesitated to help with a job, but tonight he leaves behind a young daughter and a mother recovering from a stroke who now has to plan his funeral. Shane Williams 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.

Watch the full newscast here:

The post Neighborhood Handyman ‘Tiny’ Fatally Ambushed first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

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.

Watch the full newscast here:

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Britney Gordon, Reporting

Tonight, seventy‑nine‑year‑old Kenneth Flowers has no bed to return to as he recovers from burn injuries that cover much of his body. On Sunday afternoon, he and his daughter, Andrea Flowers‑Sanchez, lost everything when a fire tore through their home and left him hospitalized. Flowers told News Five the ordeal started with something as simple as trying to make a cup of coffee.

                          Kenneth Flowers

Kenneth Flowers, Fire Victim

“So I light the stove and put on the hot water. Next thing you know I hear wa cracking inna the tank so I she something noh right ya. Because this thing cry already wa time when I mi know bout it. And same way I hear pow pow.”

A faulty connection between the stove and gas tank sparked the fire. Although, he tried to about the flames, Flowers received several burns across his face, torso and arms, resulting in his hospitalization.

Kenneth Flowers

“At the same time I decide fi back up and get out ah deh and before I get outta deh good, the flames just come up right outta the burner straight inna my face. Knock me down. I run outta di yard, Like I she, if me and somebody else mi deh there, something mi wa happen.”

Andrea Flowers-Sanchez owns the home that went up in flames. For the past two years, she’s been the sole caretaker of her father, who suffers from dementia. She’d only gone out for a quick food run on Sunday when her cousin rushed over to tell her a fire had broken out.

             Voice of: Andrea Flowers-Sanchez

Voice of: Andrea Flowers-Sanchez, Fire Victim

“She called me and said she heard a loud explosion and then she saw smoke. So I had to hurry, get into a taxi and get back home. Because I came out for food for me and my dad. I have nobody else to watch him when I’m not there. So I just took the chance to her come and get the food and go back and happened.”

She said she had purposely unhooked the gas tank and told her father it was out of gas. However, in her absence, he attempted to reconnect it himself. She talks about the struggles involved in caring for a loved one with dementia.

Voice of: Andrea Flowers

“It hard inna the sense that I don’t have no real knowledge of dementia, the sickness that he have, so like day by day I di learn or I try read up if I could read up and try help him. Because when I ker he to the clinic, they just give me like Benadryl or pills so he sleep at night and, it noh really helps Sometime I lose him, he get outta di bed and he wanders the street. So it really hard because you deprive of your rest and different things, but F my dad, I have to do it.”

They’d only been in the house, a donation from Pickstock Area Representative Anthony Mahler, for under two years and were slowly making improvements. Now, they are starting from scratch and are without a bed to comfortably sleep on.

Voice of: Andrea Flowers

“So far we get donation fi like clothes. We get a lot of offer for clothes, but we need bed or different things because I need to find somewhere to put my dad because he just sleep on the sofa and he di punish. The clothes mostly for my dad and maybe my baby because some of mines I di try see if I could see. But my baby foot size, like size ten and ina clothes  da like three-t, four-t. My dad that like size thirty-two pants and medium shirts and footwear at nine and a half.”

While shaken by the incident, Kenneth Flowers is grateful to be alive and is steadily recovering with the help of his daughter.

Kenneth Flowers

“It gone fair enough. I’m still alive so its fair enough.”

The family is accepting all forms of donations at this time. Britney Gordon for News Five.

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Family members say they believe his death may have been caused by a sudden case of “fits,” but authorities say the cause of death will be confirmed by forensic examination. Police are reviewing nearby security cameras as part of their investigation.

More details will be provided as information becomes available.

The post Breaking: 22-Year-Old Man Found Dead in Belama first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

On New Year’s Eve, 45-year-old Ian Athurs was shot dead at the corner of Waight Street and Faber’s Road. 

“We try to put our mediation tactics to play and we try to support the police as they do their suppression tactics,” said Andrew Dawson, Acting Director of the LIU. “We interview the respective persons within these communities and see how we can create some type of conversation where we can de-escalate the situation as they arise.”

Dawson explained that the work, which they call conflict tracing, involves visiting individuals in the community to gather information and open dialogue. When asked about the difficulty of the work, Dawson admitted it can be challenging. “It’s very difficult because what we do isn’t something that is very popular. It’s always said that we wanna negotiate with the criminal, with the gangsters,” he said.

He added that the team’s focus goes beyond immediate incidents. “At the end of the day, we have to understand that these persons are faced with very various social issues. “Dawson said.

Beyond mediation, the LIU also runs community beautification programmes. About 350 young people are enrolled, working to clean lots, parks, and playgrounds. “Changing the community’s environment affects how people think. It gives residents a sense of pride, a sense of ownership,” Dawson said.

He says communities welcome the projects, recognising that the LIU provides a safe space for individuals to have conversations and air out their different feelings. 

“We understand it takes a village, and we do our part as a leadership intervention unit to ensure that there’s a peaceful community.”

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Damian Sanchez, who had only been living in the house for five months, said he was away when neighbours noticed smoke coming from a window. The fire department was quickly called, but by the time he arrived, the damage was extensive.

Inside, furniture, appliances, plumbing, and wiring were all torched. Sanchez described the loss as significant. “With this economy, everything just went up. The prices, everything is a different value. Especially with labour. So yeah, it’s a great value of loss there,” he said.

The house, built three years ago, had no electricity or water meters installed, leading Sanchez to believe faulty wiring was not the cause. Neighbours reported seeing a man in a white pickup truck near the property, walking up the steps before leaving when he realised he was being watched.

After the fire was extinguished, Sanchez noticed a crack in the window shutters, which he suspects may have been used to gain access. “A fire wouldn’t just start out of the blue, so it had to be something,” he said.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the blaze.

The post Belama Home Destroyed in Suspected Arson first appeared on Greater Belize Media.

The incident comes months after the Ministry of Transport promised major upgrades to the terminal, including improved bathroom facilities and flood mitigation. Those renovations have yet to begin.

When asked about the cause of the overflow, Ministry of Transport CEO Chester Williams pointed to recent heavy rains. “I think it happened because of the volume of rain received over the past few weeks,” he said.

Williams said the immediate problem has since been resolved. “It’s just a matter of getting the sewer truck in to go in and suck what needs to be sucked out from there.”

He acknowledged that sanitation at the Belize City terminal has been a persistent problem, noting that the renovation plans include four new bathroom stalls at the compound. “We’re hoping that it’ll come sooner rather than later,” he said.

The delay, Williams said, is not due to funding. According to him, “the money has been approved, and the money has been allocated.”

He added that the project is still in the planning phase. Engineers and architects from the Ministry of Infrastructure have already visited the site, and officials are waiting on final drawings. “Once we receive the drawing and a bill of quantity, then that goes to create the tender documents,” he explained.

Meanwhile, renovations are already underway at the Belmopan Bus Terminal, with Belize City expected to follow.

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The latest incident tied to the feud was a mass shooting on New Year’s Eve in Independence Village. Police say the violence has escalated in recent weeks, ranging from home invasions and armed robberies to deadly shootings, as rival groups continue to clash.

Police Minister Oscar Mira told News 5 that additional police resources have been deployed and longer-term measures are underway. “In Bella Vista right now we have already deployed extra patrols,” Mira said.

“We have a new police station is going to be built. That work has already started and that police station is going to have all the units that are required of a fully functioning police station.”

Mira said the new station will house multiple specialised units to strengthen law enforcement operations in the area.

“We’re going to have GI three, we’re gonna have Special Branch. We going to have CIB, community based policing,” he said. “All the units that are in one of those bigger police stations will be held during, and we have also have more patrols along the Southern Highway as well.”

The minister said the focus will be on intelligence-driven policing to dismantle criminal networks behind the violence.

“So we are working in having more intelligence based operations happening and in the future we expect that we will get things under control in that area,” Mira said.

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