In the city's other weekend killing, 27-year-old University of Belize Librarian Sherwin Requena was shot as he stood with friends at the corner of Zacaranda and Oleander Streets. Today his mother told us it was an end she expected. Alfonso Noble tells us more.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Celia Will is the mother of 27-year-old UB Librarian Sherwin Requena who was gunned down a short distance from his home on Zacaranda Street. Today, Will says she knew it was her son who had been shot the very instant she heard the gunshots at around 7 last night.
Celia Will,
"When I heard the gunshots, I said it had to be him because the gunshots weren't that far and I know when I was on the verandah I saw him out by the shop. So I ran downstairs and went out on the street and saw that my big son had him laid out in his hand. My big son told me, 'ma please go and get the call for me.' I looked and felt for his heart, I tilted his head backwards so that air could flow out but only blood was gushing out of his mouth. Apparently he was hiding and he didn't know. When I ran out there I was looking for him and my eyes went directly in the yard and I saw that my big son had him in his hands. So I knew it was him. I knew it. To be truthful, I was expecting it because from the first time the boy dodged him and fired three shots, I knew his life was in danger."
And she says she knew because three months ago a gunman attempted to kill Requena over a long-standing dispute
Celia Will,
"This is a long time thing. When my son moved away and came back and lived here, they had that inferior against him so they usually sent death threats and messages to him but apparently he didn't pay it any mind, he just felt like they were talking. I always told him that you can't underestimate anyone, anybody can do anything they want."
And last night they did, two men rode their bicycles up on Requena who was standing at the corner of Zacaranda and Oleander Streets along with his older brother and other friends. One of the men then just opened fire with what is believed to be a Teck 9. At the end of the spray of bullets Requena was dead while 44 year old Dona Cayetano had also been hit. She says she was scrambling into her yard when she realized she had been shot.
Dona Cayetano,
"Last night I was standing on the street with about three or four guys. While I was standing there I decided to go use the bathroom and so as I walked off to go inside I got shot."
Alfonso Noble,
How many times you got shot?
Dona Cayetano,
"I didn't know I got two shots, I thought it was only one, but when I got here then I know I got two shots. I am surprised. I don't know why those people shot me because I haven't done anyone anything. Maybe I was at the wrong spot at the wrong time but I was home. I was on the street in front of the house where I live and I got shot right in my yard, I was walking off the street to go inside and its then I got shot. I feel bad because I could have gotten killed too, I could have lost my life too. But I didn't know the young boy died, I just heard that this morning. How can they be shooting innocent people like this? If they problems and thing they are supposed to try deal with their own problems their own way, not by shooting innocent people. I am innocent to that you understand. I actually get shot in my own yard."
While Cayetano says she was an innocent by-stander who almost lost her life, there was no "almost" for Requena. His mother however says she will remember her son as a kind and respectful man.
Celia Will,
"I will remember him as a kind and loving person, respectful, everybody loves him, and everybody looks up to him. They better remember that they have family. Just like how he has family, they have a family and I hope they realize what they did. They took away two of my sons from me, they didn't take away one, and they are acting like they are God, like they give life, and they must remember that they don't give life, God gives life. That is what I have to tell them, remember that they have a family."
This is the second son Wills has lost to gun violence. In August 26th of 2001 her other son, Deon Requena was killed by Jason Phillips. Phillips is now serving an 18 year sentence for that killing.
