And while Bernardez's family waits to see if anyone will be charged, today, 27-year-old Barkley Allen was in court to answer to charges of arson, harm and breach of protection order.
Last Thursday in Orange Walk, at around 4 in the morning, Allen locked his grandmother inside of her house and set it on fire, before physically assaulting her. She survived, but had been terrorized for years by her grandson, who is mentally ill, and had to take out a protection order against him.
And today, no plea was taken from him at the arraignment, but when Senior Magistrate Baja Shoman asked him if he understood the charges, he said no. Shoman had to break down each charge for him before he understood what he was being arraigned for. The Senior Magistrate then ordered that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
In the meantime, bail was denied and he was remanded into custody until May 31st in Orange Walk Magistrate Court.
A warrant was also prepared for Allen for four previous convictions for which he in in debt to the court, including use of threatening words, where he was fined $205, possession of a controlled drug, where the fine was $105, and a harm and handling stolen goods, for which he had been fined $1,005. The total value of his debt is $2,010.
However, when Allen was asked if he remembered the convictions, he told the Senior Magistrate he didn't. A warrant was also prepared for him to serve the fines in prison terms.
