Unsolved murders, police killings and misuse of deadly force have become staples of the public discourse, so much so that the mothers of those young men wrongfully killed have become public crusaders. Those crusades have invariably been against the police, criticized for inadequate investigations, cover-ups and wanton shootings.
But now these mothers want to move on from crusading to advocating for the general public good. They had a press conference today to discuss the way forward and 7news was there, where we found that even the best intentions must be punctuated by an all encompassing grief.
Danalyn Murillo, Mother of Teddy Murrillo
"We are here today because we want justice for our sons and for ourselves."
A demand for justice fuelled by the rage that only a wrongful death can produce.
Yolanda Schakron, Aunt of Chris Galvez
"And I want to ask Mr. Jeffries, imagine it's your son that got killed. How will you feel? Does it have to hit you before you react. Do you see these faces here? These are the faces of mothers that are hurting because no-one can bring back our loved one."
Danalyn Murillo, Mother of Teddy Murrillo
" What kind of community allows Ted to be murdered without even an arrest? What kind of citizens will sit by idly and watch the murder of their sons, their fathers, their husbands, their uncles, their brothers, without standing up for justice?"
Lavern Olivera, Mother of Rennick Reneau
"My son turned up dead. In a police canvas. I have to look to the Police. I can't look to nobody else. I get all kinds of phone calls. I will kill you and your daughter if you don't stop. But I will stand up for my son until I dead. If they are the ones that will kill me, they will kill me because I won't give up. I will not give up."
That conviction is fed by the sorrow that never ends.
Danalyn Murillo, Mother of Teddy Murrillo
"I have lost my son. I will grieve for him with my last breath. There is nothing I can do to bring him back. The only something that I can do is to demand that his killer be brought to justice. The only something that I can do, that I will do for Ted, is to work tirelessly so that another mother will not suffer the painful loss that I have suffered."
Yolanda Schakron, Aunt of Chris Galvez
"This Mother's Day, I will not have Christopher to come and hug me, give me a card, and say, 'I love you, Auntie.'"
Yvonne Moore, Mother of Nadir Husman
"It's been 6 years but there are very many nights, in the quiet moment of the night I am flooded with memories, the tears flow, and I cannot conceive what beast could have shot my child so many times, could have mercilessly watched him take his last breath."
Joan Sutherland, Mother of Allen Sutherland
"The hardest thing is Mother's Day coming up. I wish if I would wake up tomorrow and I know Mother's Day already passed. There is nothing in this world that could ease the pain of that hole they put in your heart. I even wish sometimes I would die to ease the pain. Sometimes you sit down to eat and you can't finish eating because your tears keep rolling."
And those tears were rolling all across the room – where a wave of collective grief and loss ripped through a conference room where emotion is never displayed. And so beyond the tears these mothers also showed that they mean business.
Danalyn Murillo, Mother of Teddy Murrillo
"We came up with different recommendations but when we looked at the Crookes Report, it all encompasses whatever we could have thought about. One that stays in our mind is the anti-corruption unit to be created. We have a dire need for it."
Yvonne Moore, Mother of Nadir Husman
"We plan to be very pro-active in implementing the Crookes Report. I do not believe in re-inventing the wheel. Everything is written there. The country has spent tens of thousands of dollars on that report. We will push to have that implemented."
Yolanda Schakron, Aunt of Chris Galvez
"The recommendation we made that we want the Police Department to be cleaned up. We are taking that very, very seriously. And if need be, if they do not listen, if they do not act, if it's necessary, we will take our protest to Belmopan. And we will be having other public events."
And one authority that is hearing them is the Lady Ombudsman. She sat in on today's event and listened keenly.
Jules Vasquez Reporting
"What is the seed of wrong that you see here? What is wrong with this picture? Why are all these women here?"
Cynthia Pitts, Lady Ombudsman
"The quality of the investigations that the Police are doing. And that's the issue which I have laid on the table before this thing burst out like this. I had written a letter to them, telling them that the quality of the investigation is just not good enough."
Yolanda Schakron, Aunt of Chris Galvez
"You know, they said Chris and Teddy, you can't prove anything. But let me go to Gavin Sanchez's case. Gavin Sanchez was murdered by a police officer. And you know what? What did Mr. Jeffries do? Nothing. Police officer murdering police officer. You need to shoot somebody 9 times to subdue him? Ridiculous!"
Jules Vasquez
"Are you satisfied that there is a body of injustice here?"
Cynthia Pitts, Lady Ombudsman
"Yes, because I think there is some cover-up to a certain extent. We don't know for sure. But if there is nothing to hide, then let the investigations be done. Let people ask questions and you answer them honestly and don't appear as if you are covering up, or you don't like when people ask questions."
The Lady Ombudsman says she has opened a file for the mothers of sons whose murders are unsolved or inadequately investigated.
The Belizeans for Justice also launched a membership drive at today's event and they will be hosting a Mother's Day dinner tomorrow night at Red House on Vernon Street.
