And switching now to local crime news.
At the beginning of this week's news cycle, you heard Commissioner of Police Chester Williams discussing the peace and calm that the country experienced last weekend. That streak of no gun violence ended today with the broad daylight murder of 27-year-old Desmond Budna, a resident of San Pedro Town.
He was visiting family in Belize City, and while socializing with friends, he was killed in a part of the city that he doesn't normally frequent. Our news team was on the scene shortly after the incident, and Daniel Ortiz has that story:
When we arrived on Amandala Drive - formerly known as Partridge Street around 9:00, police and Scenes of Crime personnel had already established a perimeter around the body of the victim, 27-year-old Desmond Lawrence Budna.
They laid out 10 evidence markers. While they were capturing all the important details for a criminal prosecution, the loved ones arrived. What they saw confirmed their worst fears: that the lifeless person was indeed their son and brother.
His sister was overcome by a lightning bolt of grief, and her shrieks of pain and anguish tore through the morning air.
This police officer in the orange vest had the very tough job of keeping the women away from their son and sibling who lay dead.
For almost 2 hours, the family waited patiently for the authorities to complete their tasks, and only then were they were allowed to get near Buddha's body.
His heartbroken mother braved the camera and the general public because according to her, he would have wanted the truth about his personality to be known.
Voice of: Arlien Budna - Mother of the Deceased
"Honestly, I try not to think about him. I try to think about him as if he is right here, like maybe this is a nightmare. And tomorrow, I could see him. But then, I have to face reality. I am trying to be strong for the rest of my kids, and know that he would have wanted me to be strong for them."
Budna had traveled from San Pedro to celebrate a milestone with his younger sisters. The family should have been enjoying a graduation party on behalf of the graduates. Instead, they are all in mourning tonight.
Voice of: Arlien Budna
"He lives in San Pedro. He goes to work every day. He just came here off the boat yesterday for graduation, and for a birthday party, his two sisters, the two smallest ones of the family. So, he was to go to Belmopan for the birthday bash tomorrow, with his sister. He was going to wrap his hair because he has dreads - going to wrap it because it looked too untidy. He was supposed to go with her in her vehicle. But, just because he had to do something, and she was already ready to go. She was already all the way by Hattieville, and she turned back when she heard this. It happened so quickly."
What was he doing in the Saint Martins area of Belize City? According to his mother, he went to visit friends.
Voice of: Arlien Budna
"He has a friend, Leroy, who is in a wheelchair, who comes from the Caye, who they shot on the Caye. I think that it's him who he went to look for. He loves to patronize the people. It's the first time he went to socialize there. His life is gone. It's usually here he comes to sleep, at my step-sister. He is not from Belize. He hasn't come into Belize for more than a half-a-year or so. He collected his holiday pay. He was on 2-weeks vacation. He got his pay, and he came in. He usually goes and buys 5 suits of clothes, treat himself, sit down with a few friends, or go to his sister. But, you see, it's graduation. So, he was preparing to go to his sister's party. He came for graduation, but he said that would stay for the night, and he was going to the party. He had his money, but it's not a robbery. I guess, maybe, they were just jealous because when he buys his 5 suits, Jordan slippers, cap. He likes to look good. But, he works for what he has. He has his little cycle at the Caye. He worked for that. The only thing missing is his phone, and the thing is, I called the phone when they told me something happened to my son. I called it and it rung and rung. That means that my son must have just fallen. Then, my daughter called it, and it was actually blocked my daughter. After that, the call just went to voicemail. So, maybe had the phone, and maybe it fell."
Budna's mother made it clear to us that she did not approve of his companions in Belize City. She suspects that he was gunned down because his friends had enemies.
Voice of: Arlien Budna
"Those same people, I don't like when he is around people who have enemies because they have enemies, so he is a target too. I didn't agree with him being in that area at all. I don't like my children in Belize in general. I am afraid of Belize because you always hear people are getting gunned down. I came here to live in Belize 3 months some time ago, and I ran back to the Caye with my kids, just because of a lot of violence and crime."
Daniel Ortiz
"[You] never thought you'd be the one talking to us about something this difficult."
Voice of: Arlien Budna
"I never believed that I would be the one to see my son laying down facedown like that. You never know until it hits you."
Although the victim's mom was emotionally devastated, she did discuss a pleasant memory they recently shared.
Voice of: Arlien Budna
"He loves music. He has a speaker box. The other day I told him, to lend me that speaker box so that I can take it with me to Secret Beach, on the back of the gulf cart. He watched me and said, 'Mom, which speaker?' I told him that it was the big one. He said, 'No, mom.' I looked at him, laughed, and said, 'Seriously, you won't lend your mom your speaker box? I looked at him and I laughed because he really liked that speaker box. We have the speaker box home now. I have the speaker box. I can keep it. I can give it to his sister."
Arlien Budna is hoping that police will be able to make a successful arrest for her son's killing. But, she also harbors some doubt.
Voice of: Arlien Budna
"It makes no sense to retaliate because. We should still leave them to God. God will have his day, and we will have our day when God has his day. I always believe in that. I have always believed in justice. Sometimes, justice fails, and I watch it happen before. But, maybe the justice here on earth fails. God's justice never fails. I think they will come to justice. I think they will catch them. The only thing that I feel, is that it's a plot they pulled against him. It's more than one person. Certain persons will walk free, and not get any charge or anything."
His mother tells us that he specifically scheduled his annual holiday in order to celebrate the graduation of his sisters this week. He arrived in the City yesterday. She adds that he has been a construction worker since his teenage years and that he has worked with the same company ever since he got into the trade.
