23 year old Elden Flowers has beat a murder charge for the second time in his young life. He today walked from the 2019 murder of Richard O'Neil after the Prosecutor entered a nolle pros motion.
Flowers attorney says they only had one hearsay statement and it was not enough to pursue a murder conviction:
Norman Rodriguez, Attorney for Elden Flowers
"There was one hearsay statement and that is what the Crown would have relied on to get a conviction. It's kind of challenging, it is very challenging, as a matter of fact, because the hearsay statement didn't fall within one of the exceptions. So it would have been an uphill battle for the Crown and prudently, about less than a week ago, I was informed that they had filed the nolle pros."
"It's regretful that somebody lost his life and I want to sympathize to the family for that, because nobody deserves to be killed. But if you're going to get a conviction or if you're going to prosecute somebody, the evidence must be there to support the commission of the crime and in this case, that wasn't the case. I must also add that I am not going to take credit for this, it is simply the due process at work or justice at work, Lady Justice functioning, because, like I said, prudently, the Crown decided that they would not have enough evidence and they did what they had to do, they did not prolong it."
With that Elden Flowers was freed from prison after three years on remand. He is the brother of well known PIV figure Edwin Drive Flowers. In 2017, he was charged with the murder of Randolph Johnson, but was acquitted in July of last year.
On November 27, 2019, O'Neil, who resided on Ordonez Street in Belize City, was kidnapped and taken to an area on the Burrell Boom/Hattieville Road. He was then shot and dumped on the roadside and left for dead. But he survived and was rushed to the KHMH - where he died 3 weeks later. At the time, police said he named Flowers as one of the men who were involved in his abduction and attempted murder.
