Thirteen minors were murdered in 2021 a chilling statistic that we aren't soon to forget. It felt like no child was safe, not even an innocent 9-year-old. And with 2021 behind us, everyone had hoped that the killing of kids would be too.
But last night, another minor was gunned down in his hometown of Dangriga. 15-year-old Joshua Flores was walking in the Sabal's Community area when he was shot. A graphic video circulating had shown him lying in the grass, still breathing. But he only held on for so long before he succumbed to the injuries.
And now, with less than a week into the New Year, it feels like the nightmare is starting all over especially for Flores' family, who say that the teenager never harmed anyone.
It's the worst possible way to start off the year, and just yesterday the Minister of Home Affairs stated his public hope that we had seen the end of children dying in such a cruel way.
Unfortunately, tonight, the grieving continues for this family. Courtney Menzies traveled south to speak with them and has this story:
Hon. Kareem Musa - Min. Home Affairs
"And so moving forward for 2022, I don't want to see another young person die; we have to do better!"
But it's not better. 6 days into 2022 - and already a minor is being mourned.
Ezra Garcia - Neighbor/Mother Figure
"Depressing. Very depressing. I mean like, I haven't slept since last night. Very depressing. He doesn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it at all. He wouldn't hurt a fly, Joshua wouldn't hurt a fly."
The family of 15-year-old Joshua Flores is currently grappling with the incomprehension of how the teenager could have gone from playing basketball to lying on the street, covered in blood.
It was around 7:30 last night when he had been walking with three other people in the Sabal Community. One of those persons reportedly pulled out a gun and fired shots at Flores.
Today, his neighbor who refers to Flores as her adopted son since they live in adjoining yards and he calls her "mother" told us that he had originally planned to stay home, but decided last minute to head out.
Ezra Garcia
"I spoke to him like couple minutes, like he walked in the yard like 6 o'clock, he just came from playing basketball because he was supposed to go to Belize City for a tournament in the next two weeks so I talked to him and we were talking and he said he was coming upstairs but then he just took a shower and take a different direction. A young man came to look for him but it was pretty dark, I couldn't see the person who came to look for him then little bit after that he said he was going out then he went out. We got the news like 8 o'clock last night but he left from here like 6:30, so I got the call, his mom called me and asked me to take her to the hospital because she just heard that he got shot and then when we reached at the hospital, he was already in the police vehicle, lying motionless, so my son took the mother to the back to try and identify the body."
A difficult task for any mother to do, and today she was still inconsolable, especially since, according to Garcia, her son wasn't the type to wander on the street or get into trouble.
Ezra Garcia
"Right now, she can't even say anything, all she do is cry, she has three kids, Joshua was the oldest boy and she could always depend on him so like it was a shock to her so right now she can't even say anything. I'm still in shock because he's a very mannerly boy, he don't deal with any gangs or anything, very respectable so I was- I'm still shaken. Because it's like a shock to me. He's not a person always on the street, he's always at home and that's what puzzled the family and I, he's always at home, he would sit on the verandah and that's it, from there he would go upstairs to my house and ask me, mother what can I do for you, and from there he would come right back down, he's never on the road. If he do go out just to purchase a little something and right home back. He never stay long from home, never."
And she said that he had never indicted that something was wrong, or that someone may have been targeting him. But now they're hoping whoever pulled the trigger will do the right thing.
Ezra Garcia
"Every time I talk to him I would ask him, Joshua you're okay? Yes mother. Joshua, you're okay, you need to talk to me or something? Yes mother, I'm good. I said, You sure? He said, Yes mother, I'm good. So I don't know that he would have someone attacking him. I really don't know. It's very puzzling. I just hope that whoever is responsible for this, they will be man enough to come forward and confess and just take it from there. We leave everything up in the police hand and everything to God."
Flores was a second form student, getting ready to return to classes next week. He also played basketball for the Savage Storm team. According to this post by his coach, he had been leading the drills hours before he was killed. Another coach in the south said that Flores was gearing up for a tournament with the Ahmadiyya Basketball League. Hoop dreams and high hopes all extinguished in a trigger's release.
Garcia's last request was for increased police presence in the Back-a-town area of Dangriga and not just when incidents like these occur. She hopes there will now be constant patrols in that darkened area to prevent another death like this.
