A young father of 4 bled to death in the street this morning after he was stabbed in the face shortly after leaving a nightclub. He is 26-year-old Francisco Che who was last seen alive by friends at the Lion King Club on King Street. The next contact with Che was made by paramedics from BERT (Belize Emergency Response Team) who treated him on Amara Avenue for cut wounds to his face. Police and paramedics say Che refused to be taken to the hospital and so they treated him for injuries and left him there, a couple hours later he was found in the same spot dead. It is now being classified as a homicide and earlier today his cousin Vicente Choco was questioned by police. Choco spoke to us today saying the last time he saw Francisco alive was inside the Lion King Club.
Keith Swift,
When was the last time you saw him alive?
Vicente Choco, Che's Cousin
"Between 1 and 2 o'clock. Between 1 and 2 I asked him if he wanted to go home and he said no. He told me to lend him $50 and I told him I already lent him $50. He told me he had a lot of glass louvers which he would give me so I gave it to him. He went to buy a beer out of the same $50 which gave him. When he gave me the beer I told him he shouldn't drink anymore and that he should go home. He told bye and I left."
Keith Swift,
What you think happened to him?
Vicente Choco,
"Well I cannot say what happened but it could be a dispute or it could be an enemy. He was not drunk because its not the first time I'm seeing Francisco and its not the first time I've seen him drink and he has walked home and nothing happened to him. But he was not drunk at the time."
Francisco Che is originally from rural Toledo. He moved to Belize City 6 years ago and was working as a warehouse supervisor. His wife and 4 children remained in Toledo. A post mortem is scheduled for tomorrow. Police haven't indicated what they believe the motive was and his family says it probably wasn't robbery since Che didn't have any money on him.
