A small, peaceful village in the Cayo District was rocked when one of its residents was callously killed on Saturday night. It was around 6:30 when marine biologist, 38-year-old Celso Cawich was shot several times at his home in what seemed to be a robbery turned murder.
And for the village of Harmonyville, it's a shock, especially since they say Cawich was always ready to lend a helping hand. And as a teacher and conservationist for marine life, Cawich's death is a huge loss to their community.
Courtney Menzies went west to the scene of the crime, and has this story.
Harmonyville was anything but harmonious this past weekend when several gunshots rang out on Saturday night, killing one of their residents.
38-year-old Celso Cawich was a marine biologist and teacher at UB, who originally grew up in Orange Walk, but later moved west. He had opened a little store on his property in Harmonyville, and that's where he was fatally shot.
ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Police Press Officer
"The initial information received by police was that two men brandishing firearms walked into his business place where one of these men pointed a firearm at the deceased and fired several shots towards him. We know that police have since detained two suspects and the investigators also informed me that they are looking for three more persons believed to be involved in this murder."
"It would want to look like the initial intent is robbery and from what witnesses have described, they're saying that when Mr Cawich made a movement as to go towards his waist for some reason, that was when the gunmen opened fire on him. So at first they made requests and like I said, he walked away, stepped a little back, and these gunmen opened fire on him."
And while that is the motive the police have so far, the villagers also believe Cawich was targeted because he assisted a neighbor with an intruder earlier this week.
One of his neighbors - who chose to remain anonymous - told us that after ten years of knowing Cawich, she never expected him to be on the other side of a gun.
Voice of: Neighbor of Deceased
"The gunshots, it was four we heard at the beginning, two loud like a bomb, and two second gunshots like it wasn't that hard and then I heard Ms Laura scream hard and the next young lady the lived next to me, she ran because I called her and she called the police and she ran to see what happened and when she got there, Mr Celso was already on the ground and after that his wife took him to the hospital. But Mr Celso was a very nice person, he helps a lot of people in the village and whenever someone asks him to help, he's willing to help, and also when he go anywhere else, like in the cayes, he's a very nice person. I know him personally, I work with him, like for a month out there when I was with my husband. So that is what I know about him, he's a very nice person."
"I didn't expect that they shot him and I didn't thought that was going to happen to him. I cried and I called my husband at that moment and he told me not to say anything for my safety."
"It's a pity that they killed him just like that, his life went just like that for nothing. He didn't harm anybody at this village, and no one here at the village expected that from anybody."
And it was another resident of Harmonyville that was arrested today. 27-year-old vendor, John Horace has since been charged for Cawich's murder.
