And while the family is getting ready to bury Laddie, the public outcry is still loud, calling for murder charges instead of manslaughter. But it's a lot of Facebook furor, and not a lot of feet on the pavement actually protesting.
We say this because only about 20 people participated in the protest held this past Saturday,. Even the anonymous organizer did not show up. But the ones who did, stood proudly in front of the Racoon Street Police Station with their signs, chanting "no justice, no peace."
Courtney Menzies was out there and has this story.
Crowd Chanting
"No Justice, No Peace. Say their names, Laddie Gillett, say their names, Allyson Major."
The shooting death of 14-year-old Laddie Gillett by a police officer, followed by the subsequent manslaughter charge, shook the nation, immediately sparking talks of protests. Not even a day after the news broke, a protest was planned for July 17th, at midday.
But when that day came, only about 20 people showed up in front of Raccoon Street Police Station. But the low turnout didn't deter those who were stood with their backs to the station, signs high in the air, signifying that they've lost trust in the department.
Kezia Arnold, Protestor
"Whether or not the organizer is out here, I would have been out here. This isn't about a crowd or who comes out, even though the crowd would be appreciated, people want to be heard, people want to stand strong, but nobody wants to stand alone. We don't have an issue coming out here we just don't want to be taken advantage of. Like you guys will sit behind a computer but you won't come out, I'm not one of those people who sill sit behind a computer, I will come out, I will show out, I will make sure that my voice is heard."
"I basically came out here because we need justice, we need reform the police, we need to reform the whole police department. I'm not saying that we do not have good police officers, we do have good police officers, I believe we need to properly train them, I don't think 3 to 6 months is enough training for these officers especially if they're going to be handling deadly weapons. If they're going to be out here without the proper training, things like Laddie are going to happen, and that shouldn't happen."
And despite not being the organizer, Kezia Arnold, ended up taking the lead in the protest. She told us that though she didn't know Laddie, she was greatly affected by his killing.
Kezia Arnold, Protestor
"When I heard about this shooting, it reminded me of the Allyson major incident and it's like why do we have police in our departments that don't know how to do their job properly. Allyson Major isn't the first, Laddie isn't the first, and I don't think it will stop unless we do something about it as a community, as a country, it won't stop. And they will continue. You're looking at what they will basically see as another statistic. Our children, our people, we are not statistic, we are humans, we have rights."
"I'm hoping the charge changes, honestly, because I understand the officer went out to do his job, but he did his job poorly and there's consequences to actions and manslaughter is not a good enough consequence. You took a life, you took a child's life, that little boy won't even know what it feels like to grow old, get married, have kids, own a car, own a house, they took away so much."
The founder of "We Walk As One" Foundation, an organization that works with families affected by gun violence, was also out on Raccoon Street - wearing his Justice for Laddie shirt. Brian Guardado told us he felt he needed to be a part of the protest, and that he expects the unions to do the same.
Brian Guardado, Founder, We Walk As One Foundation
"I felt it mandatory to be here to show my support because Laddie was only 14 years old, that's a youth with a long life ahead of him, he had potential, he played sports, he had his couch, he had friends, and so his life taken shortly just like that was a tragic incident."
"We know it's not an easy situation but if we need to be out here everyday for the next two months, three months, for the rest of the year, we will be out here. We need to see that things will change, we need to know that our voices will be heard. We want to see our teachers and our public servants, just like how they were out there striking and our citizens were out there with them, we want to see them out here with us. We were out there to support them and so we're expecting the same from our teachers, our public servants, our Nurses Association, we're expecting to see them out here."
And like Arnold, he was also upset when he heard that the officer that pulled the trigger would be charged with manslaughter - and that his bail was so low.
Brian Guardado, Founder, We Walk As One Foundation
"Personally, I want to see change because my trust with the police department is this low. At one point I trusted them that to say I feel safe where I am but now with this incident, I don't even know if I could trust them, I don't even know if they are prepared to serve the country in that aspect. In regards to the manslaughter charge that was given to Mr Martinez and that $8,000 bail, if it was a police officer that was murdered, they would have found a $60,000, $70,000 bail and you're telling me Laddie's life was only worth $8,000 yesterday and that was what upset me yesterday because when the police officer got killed at the cayes, they found that $30,000 bail to give and they gave this man $8,000 for Laddie's life which is unfair."
"That is the reason the Belize police department is where it is now because of that same situation, they like to hire people who, because they're police officers, they feel like they could do anything they want and that is what the courts showed us yesterday that the police could kill someone out here and be free on manslaughter charge, on bail, and give them the least amount that they could collect."
