Turning to Dangriga Town, there was another murder last night, the second in 3 days.
The victim has been identified as 43-year-old Adolpho Nunez, and all indications are that he was the target of a street-style execution, which was carried out at his family's home.
Our news team traveled to Dangriga today, and we got a chance to speak to his family about the incident and its immediate aftermath. Daniel Ortiz reports:
Adolpho Nunez, the Dangriga resident, better known as "San," was gunned down here at his home on Rear Pine Street.
An unknown gunman reportedly ambushed this 43-year-old father of 3 inside his yard while responding to someone who called for him at the front gate. One anonymous source told our news team that the shooter supposedly signaled the other man not to raise Nunez's alarm. If our source is accurate, then it is unclear whether or not that other person was an accomplice or an unwilling participant in Nunez's killing.
Seconds later, however, his neighbors heard the sound of 3 or 4 gunshots disturbing the peace and quiet in the "Bluefield" Neighborhood. They came out to find him slowly bleeding to death.
Voice of: Cousin - Grieving family Member
"When I heard gunshots last night - I heard three gunshots while I was sitting in my home. And I told my children, you know what? I'm sure that that is somewhere very, very close."
"I saw my neighbor riding on a bicycle and explained to her. I said I don't think you should be out riding because I heard some gunshots. You should be in your house. That's when she told me, you know, that it basically hit home. And she explained to me that my cousin was actually on the ground, shot, and it did seem as if it seemed as if he was dead. So, the first thing I did was to call the police, and I called the ambulance to see if they could come to assist us. When we arrived, his body was on the ground, and he was already motionless."
Daniel Ortiz
"That must have been very distressing."
Voice of: Cousin
"There's not a feeling that I can use to explain it because, at this point, I think it was just a feeling of confusion. And we tried. We did our best. We put him into the police vehicle and went to see what the outcome would have been. And on our arrival, we were told that he passed while they were assisting him. "San" was a very friendly individual. I know he has had run-ins with the law, and I will not say he's a perfect individual. He has done his share here. I don't know to who or for what reason, but also one of my disappointments is that I do not understand how people would be so callous to just to just come, you know, right in his home, right in his yard actually, you know and then to just fire weapons like that."
In a much-traumatized society that is slowly losing faith in due process, Nunez's loved ones are still hopeful that the authorities will be able to solve this crime and bring his killer to justice.
Voice of: Cousin
"I still have faith in the justice system. It is just that the process is very slow, and there is certain process within the system that makes it a little bit difficult for families to get some closure. So I'm just hoping, and I'm praying that, you know what, as these crimes go on, not only in the aggregate but around the country, the powers that be observe the people who are being accused, the people who are being victims, the family members of the loved one, and realize, you know what? Sometimes we have to keep our eyes very, very open because we don't know when these things will be knocking on our doors."
For his cousin, however, the bigger matter of distress is the increase in violent crime in this once peaceful coastal community in the Stann Creek District.
Voice of: Cousin
"There is a sense of shock, but there is something that I'm also thinking about while I'm speaking with you is that our community is very small, andI'mm hearing gunshots around the neighborhood. No, I don't want to see that it's a norm, but it is something that has been plaguing our community. I'm hoping, and I'm praying, that our community in Dangriga just changes and that the lives of these young people. They should think before they even pull the trigger. You know, one of the things that I keep hearing is that you attack somebody, and then somebody else comes to attack you, and you put her family members in danger. So it's important that you know we find a way to end this sort of violence."
Daniel Ortiz
"The cycle."
Voice of: Cousin
"Exactly. It is important that our members, our people in Dangriga, and the entire community, should learn to speak out. We are a very small community. We are very loving. All is not lost. I still believe that younger guys are great, great police. I live here and will not have anything negative said about this community. But I believe that we just need to start changing our mindset to believe, you know, that, hey, there's something going on. Let's be cool. Let's speak up. And I also press upon the authorities that when information is being given, that information is kept secret, don't disclose any information that people give because that will deter individuals from wanting to assist the police and to make arrests whenever situations like these arise."
Multiple residents in Dangriga shared their suspicions with our news team that Nunez's killing has some sort of drug connection.
