And turning now to crime news.
Belmopan saw a tragic shooting death on Friday evening when 26-year-old Daniel Orellano was shot by his friend Julian Henry, also 26.
It happened on Mariposa street in Las Flores when Orellano was standing outside Henry's house near a window. Henry had allegedly been cleaning his licensed firearm in preparation for a hunting trip when it misfired straight out the window.
Today eyewitnesses say that the shooter appeared to be in shock in the immediate aftermath of the incident while his friend lay in the grass and took his last breaths. Cherisse Halsall Has that story.
The weekend started in tragedy for the Family of Daniel Orellana. He'd told his mom he was going to his girlfriend's house but he clearly took a detour because not even an hour later he was dead killed in a neighbouring yard, accidentally killed by a young man with whom he'd been friends. Today his mother told us that she doesn't believe it was an accident.
Lucia Leiva, Aunt/adopted mother
"I don't believe that it was an accident because there were lots of people there in the house, and they say that the young man would also do it that way with other people that he'd hold out the gun to them but it wouldn't have bullets and that day he arrived and shot out the window and why would he shoot out the window? If this was an accident why didn't he shoot the bullet in another direction, why did it go directly through the window where [Daniel] was. Maybe the guy who did it was on drugs I don't know what happened."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Nothing about jealousy or anything like that?"
Lucia Leiva, Aunt/adopted mother
"No, I don't think so."
And if it wasn't jealousy or some feud coming to the surface why would one friend kill the other?
One neighbor and eyewitness says the shooter seemed both distraught and remorseful.
Voice of Neighbor
"I heard something, I had just come from my ranch and I layed down to relax home and I heard a hard banging and a minute after or so I heard the guy bawling and crying and what's not so then I motion came out because I was afraid."
"Yes I was afraid for another shot but it's not that you know because every neighbours were calm there was nothing so then I came out and watched the guy he was very sorry jumping and what happened I thought that he got shot because they HAVE A BUSINESS, YOU KNOW BUT then when he pointed out that the bally was right beside the house then I took a quick look and I saw that the guy was down and yeah really sad but it happened."
Voice of: Neighbor
"He said that it's his friend but accidentally because he's a guy that when weekend he go hunt he has a ranch and maybe he's preparing like I said maybe he's preparing to move out because he's a guy that isn't on the street he has a big place he has a far, He told me he has a vision that he could do something good in life. because everything is really tight right now and everything goes up."
Those good Intentions forever altered by what may have been tragic circumstances but for Orellana's family who are tearfully mourning his loss, it's a tragedy that should not have occured.
Voice of: Family member
"Well, I think that was never the proper way to handle the gun if that was an accident because you never have a bullet in your gun in your house. You should never point a gun at anybody not even empty or with bullets."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Now, the young man who shot your family member says he was cleaning the gun do you believe that?"
Voice of: Family member
"No, I have guns and I never clean them with bullets I always empty my guns and worse when it's a shotgun, the shotgun only holds one bullet it's easy to take it off."
Now Daniel's mother finds herself demanding what any mother would want:
Lucia Leiva, Aunt/ adopted mother
"But that day he came to the house and ate, took a bath, and then left. He had some girlfriend and went to see the girlfriend but supposedly he went somewhere else and they told me within the hour that he'd been killed, yes. And the only thing I ask of the authorities in justice is because we are poor people. They have money but I think for God we are all the same."
The question now is whether she'll get that justice from the authorities. This morning ASP Fitzroy told the press that the DPP had given advice for a lesser charger.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Officer
"It's by negligence when it was sent out from my office it initially said manslaughter but within two or three minutes later it was clarified by the person that sent it out that it was indeed manslaughter by negligence and not just manslaughter."
Daniel Ortiz:
"So that change of negligence changes the undertone?"
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Officer
"Well, I should believe so but when it comes to all this but when it comes to all these legal terms I will leave it to the prosecutor in the prosecution to explain why by negligence and not just manslaughter, no."
"No other person was charged in connection with this incident but of course, in the initial stage of the investigation for clarity we detained all three persons that were inside that house at the time and from the inception of the investigation, Mr. Henry claimed that it was him handling that firearm when it negligently was discharged."
Daniel Orellano was orphaned as a child and since then had been raised by his biological aunt Lucia Levia who he called mom. She told us that the young man who had lots of friends and no enemies was in the habit of showing respect for everyone he met.
