Almost two weeks after he shot and killed a man at the San Pablo Community Center in Orange Walk – a BDF soldier has been criminally charged. Police yesterday charged Private Paulino Assi with manslaughter for the death of George Kenny Cortez. As we’ve reported, on Saturday night November 22nd Cortez, who was living temporarily at the center, was drunk and acting unruly. The soldiers who were assigned to the center intervened and fired two warning shots. But that didn’t work and that’s when Private Assi fired a third shot which hit Cortez in the leg. He was taken to the hospital but died while undergoing treatment a day later.
Cortez’s family claimed excessive force was used and that Cortez was shot from the back. A post mortem certified that Cortez was shot from the side and he didn’t die from the gunshot – he died from complications from it. Cortez was a resident from Douglas. His family, like all families in Douglas, had to flee the village after it was quarantined because of the flood.
