He was allegedly a hired gun, paid to kill the star witness in a murder trial scheduled for next week, but instead of killing 26-year-old Aniver Palacio was the one killed last night, mainly because his target was waiting for him. Palacio was fatally injured in a shootout with Raymond "Killa" Gentle in the port Loyola Area around 9:30. Gentle is the 31-year-old crown's star witness against Jason Paulino who is charged for killing Nicholee Lewis. We'll tell you more about that later but first to last night's bloodbath on Doris Brooks Street in the Port Loyola area. As we found out, it was a violent end to the violent life Aniver Palacio was living. Here's more.
Keith Swift Reporting,
On March 26th, Aniver Palacio was acquitted of robbing and trying to kill businessman Phillip Galaty. He walked out of the Supreme Court a free man and told us he was ready to walk away from this troubled city.
Aniver Palacio,
[March 26th 2006] "I have to relocate out of the city because I am a target."
Aniver Palacio never left the city. Last night he was here on Doris Brooks Street where re he got into a shootout with Raymond "Killa" Gntle. By the time it was all over Gentle was shot in the abdomen and Aniver Palacio was fatally shot in the head. A neighbor who asked to remain anonymous told us that he was watching television last night when he heard an eruption of gunfire outside his window.
Area Resident,
"I was inside watching news and when I listened I heard bow wow wow and when we peeped outside I saw the police man out there and when I went to look I saw the man lying in the drain and then I moved from the scene. I heard at least fifteen rounds, about that I heard."
Witnesses say that when Raymond Gentle parked in front of his home on Doris Brooks Avenue he was ambushed by two men. At least one had a gun. A rapid succession of shots were fired. These bloodstains near this drain mark the spot where Palacio fell. Gentle it is believed fell at the foot of his gate, there is also blood there. More evidence of last night's deadly exchange is this bullet fragment, which we found on the street this morning. It was a violent night in a neighborhood which residents say has never seen violence like this.
Area Resident,
"Right now people can't even come out. Everywhere you turn now it is 'bam bam.' This is madness. These boys aren't afraid to go anywhere to shoot you and this will make everyone get like this directly because everyone will want a gun for themselves."
Raymond "Killa" Gentle received gunshot injuries to his right rib cage while Palacio was shot in his head and both legs. Gentle is tonight under police guard in the Karl Heusner Hospital where he is in stable condition. We don't know if he will be charged.
Gentle was scheduled to testify against Jason Paulino in the murder trial of Nicholee Lewis that trial starts Monday. Now if you follow closely, Nicholee Lewis was allegedly killed after he fingered Jason Paulino's brother Jamie Dawson, as the gunman in the December 2002 murder of Maurice Neal inside Bismark Club on Caesar Ridge Road. Nicholee was never able to testify on the stand because he was killed. Allegedly by Jason Paulino who, the argument goes, was trying to keep his brother from being convicted. Paulino's brother, Jamie Dawson was convicted in March of 2004 but a new trial was granted. That ended in a deadlock in February of this year.
Meanwhile a post mortem on Aniver Palacio was scheduled for this afternoon but it couldn't be performed because, n a replay of what happened last week, the police forensic examiner didn't show up. That post mortem is now scheduled for Monday.
As we told you earlier, Palacio has a very long rap sheet dating back to January of 1997 when he was arrested on a minor drug charge. His first and only stint in jail was from 1998 to 2003 on a robbery conviction. Palacio spent those five years and when he was released in 2003, he was once again in the cross hairs of the police. This time it was for robbery and wounding. The list grew in 2004 when he allegedly attempted to kill businessman Phillip Galaty. Aniver was later acquitted. In July of 2005 he was charged with robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery for a $65,000 heist from the Princess Hotel. Those cases are still pending. Just this past December 2005 Palacio and friends were accused of storming into the home of the Lebanese Honorary Consul to Belize.
We should note that though the rap sheet is lengthy, Aniver Palacio was only convicted twice. One was for drug possession in 1997 and the other was the robbery conviction in 1998. At the time of his death, Palacio had 10 charges pending before the court. We should note that two weeks after he was acquitted in March, Palacio was shot on April 10th. Mitchum Heredia was murdered the following night, reportedly in retaliation.
