On Saturday night, 37 year old George Rochester alighted a northbound bus in Ladyville and to stop off at a shop and then head over to a party. But, he never made it - because a gunman was stalking him - and killed him with brutal precision.
Monica Bodden found out more:..
Monica Bodden reporting
This small pile of sand on Quilter Avenue marks the spot where 37 year old Jorge Rochester fell on his back, after he was shot up on Saturday night.
It happened around 9:30 that night, just a couple minutes after Rochester jumped off a bus. He died on the spot - and from the looks of things, he was the intended target.
Fitzroy Yearwood - Police Press Officer
"The police responded to a scene on Quilter Street in Ladyville Village, a very popular business area where the saw the lifeless body of George Rochester, a 37 year old male. Initial investigations revealed that he was shot several times to the body both legs, chest and one below one of his eyes. Initial investigation revealed that he had just exited a bus from Belize City and whilst
walking on Quilter Street gunshots were heard in that area and a man was seen running from that area. We are hoping that someone out there who may have seen something can help us in identifying the perpetrator of this crime."
Many believe that the gunman came off the same bus as Rochester. And when Rochester stopped at this store just yards away from where he got off the bus -to make a purchase - the man hid in some nearby bushes and waited for him.
Fitzroy Yearwood
"Investigators are also looking at that possibility and if we can get a description of his clothing then maybe somebody that was on that bus that night would recall who it was. But we are just asking for public assistance because we know that that area in particular several persons were out there that night. I visited that scene and I saw quite a few people still out there unconcern."
Marion Ali, Love News
"I also learn from the people in the area that he might have been rob of a bag contents which are unknown at this point."
Fitzroy Yearwood
"Marion that was not brought to our attention but that information is very helpful. We wish that these people that are giving out the information - that they could call and give us the investigators who really need those pieces of evidence to put this crime together so that we can solve it and give some closure to the family."
The police have recovered four 9mm expended shells from the scene. The 37 year old man was shot in the right eye, right side of the chest and both legs. Jorge Rochester lived in Orange Walk Town, but was in Belize City visiting his father who is visiting from the United States. That night he was heading to a party in Ladyville - just a couple blocks away from where he was murdered.
Jorge Rochester Sr. - Father of the Decease
"It was Saturday night between 7 and 8 o'clock, he came over to visit and we said our goodbyes because I was leaving that following morning back to Los Angeles and we had just seen him, we had took pictures and he told me he was going to go to a party up in Ladyville and the next thing I heard my son was killed. A family member called me by telephone and told us that he had been shot and he wasn't at the hospital, he was at the morgue and immediately they told me that he is deceased."
Rochester moved to Belize from Los Angeles California about 6 years ago and has been working as a fisherman. Why someone would want him dead is a question plaguing his family's mind.
Jorge Rochester Sr. - Father of the Decease
"As far as I know he told me he was doing some fishing, things of that nature trying to have a gainful employment. That someone had something with him - I don't know. Police are investigating and such I am leaving it up to the authorities to try and find hos killer because this was a cold blooded murder."
George Rochester Jr. was the father of six children - he will be cremated in Belize and his father will take his ashes back to the United States.
