There were 2 fatal traffic accidents over the weekend: 1 in the Orange Walk District, and another in the Cayo District.
We report first on the case in Trial Farm, Orange Walk, which doesn't look like an accident at all - police are currently treating it as a possible instance of what could be called vehicular homicide. The victim is a 20 year old - who might have been knocked down and killed as an act of retaliation for a few acts of vandalism. Courtney Menzies has the story:
20-year-old Jillian Garcia spent his Sunday night socializing with some friends at Cantina Cool Mix Spot in Orange Walk when he got into an argument with other patrons. He would never have guessed that argument would have led to his death.
About 30 minutes before curfew, Garcia left with his friends, and, according to eyewitness, was chased down and run over by a van. He was flung into a nearby yard and died shortly after, while the driver sped off. The vehicle was later found torched.
It's an uncommon set of circumstances that warrants a thorough investigation, but Garcia's mother, Marcela Tun, is sure that he was intentionally targeted and killed. She spoke via phone:
Voice of: Marcela Tun, Mother of Deceased
"They called like around 9 and tell me that my son was knocked down but I don't believe it and they tell me yes, it's true, they knock your son and I find out that they knocked down my son and he died, sadly."
"They said they were with friends when they were coming home and a car, I don't know that color of the car, approach him and they start to run and the car run over him."
"The people who see it, they said that the car was coming behind them, chasing them, and the man knock him and he run over he. That's the story I know. But I have seen a lot of stories and I don't know what is true or what is false."
"I don't know what cause the problem to happen but the only thing I know they killed my son because lot of witness see that they run over my son. They are coming for him, because he was running."
An eyewitness who heard the commotion came outside to find Garcia's body in his yard. He spoke off camera with our colleagues at CTV3.
Voice of: Eyewitness
"(Spanish) I was with my family watching TV, my wife and my child, when we heard a bang and we heard a vehicle that left fast and made a lot of noise and I thought someone was racing and I came out of the screen door and I saw a young man thrown in my yard like 8 feet away from my door. I look at him and I thought he was dead. His head was bleeding profusely. A couple seconds, I saw a young man came and hug him and was crying and was telling, bwai Jun, and started to cry then we saw like he moved and the neighbors told me to call the police but I called police already but police hadn't arrived yet. The neighbor beside me put him in his vehicle and took him to his vehicle like around 9:30."
And now, his mother is hoping for justice from the same officers she claimed had targeted her son in the past.
Voice of: Marcela Tun, Mother of Deceased
"I want police do their job, because they always come by my son, that he and his friends are gang members and that is not true."
"My son was not an angel, I will not say my son is a good person, but he is a friendly person, he like be friend with anybody, and maybe the police doesn't like when they have friends because if you have a friend that mean that you are a gang, if you wear blue it mean you are a gang, I don't think so."
"The police say any problem happen here, they come, beat my son, I have pictures in my phone how they left my son when they catch my son."
But the police have already begun their investigation, and have four people detained so far - who claim that Garcia's death was simply an accident.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood - Director of Communications, ComPol's Office
"He was followed, by one of the persons that they were arguing with, or persons - more than one of them - who got into the vehicle and claimed that he lost control. Witnesses are saying that he was diving at a very high speed when he ran over Garcia and crashed into a lamp post nearby. He then made good his escape from the scene and was later detained by police along with 3 others, including 2 minors. So, we have them detained, pending charges."
"It's too much of a coincidence that after you had an argument with a group, one of those persons may have used his vehicle as a weapon."
According to reports, Garcia may have been involved in some sort of criminal activity prior to his death, and the alleged killer had been trying to scare him off rather than kill him.
The fact that the vehicle which knocked down and killed Jillian Garcia was burnt makes it almost useless as a form of evidence - and could limit police in what charges they bring. Reports say the whole sequence of events could have been triggered by some tires that had been punctured - and the fatal accident may have been related to that. The alleged driver of the vehicle is reportedly still at large.
