Three children are tonight trying to come to terms with the sudden loss of their mother, while the rest of the normally tranquil village of Caye Caulker is mourning with them.
32-year-old Leslie Verde was killed in the early hours of Saturday morning. By the time her family found her in her bedroom, she'd already been dead for hours.
And for her family, it's one tragedy after the other, since only two years ago, they were victims to a fire that destroyed their home. But while that may have been an accident, they believe in this case, it was murder.
Courtney Menzies went to the island yesterday and has this story.
Three children are left without their mother after 32-year-old Leslie Verde was found dead in her home over the weekend.
Verde reportedly went out on Friday night, and was last seen coming home on Saturday morning. A few hours later, her daughter found her lying on her bedroom floor.
Her brother told us that by the time she was discovered, her body was unrecognizable.
Carlos Jimenez, Brother of Deceased
"We were here chilling when my two nieces, three nieces, came out, they were crying, and they said their mom isn't coming out, she's not waking up. So we ran, we went to see here and when we reached in, she was already deceased."
"All everything was purple, half her body purple, all her veins purple, and her face was already swollen."
"Me and my friends, we picked her up, we wrapped her, because when we met her, she was naked on the ground, laid out, on her face. We picked her up, and we wrapped her up, because she was naked, we wrapped her with two sheets and we took her on the cart and we took her straight to the clinic back there."
"She went out in the morning, but she would never do something like this."
Courtney Menzies:
"What time did she come home?"
Carlos Jimenez, Brother of Deceased
"They said like 4."
Courtney Menzies:
"And was she with her common-law?"
Carlos Jimenez, Brother of Deceased
"No, he was at home, he was right here."
And while they don't have all the answers, they believe this "death investigation" should be labeled as a murder.
That's because Verde's common-law husband, with whom she'd been living with for about 5 years, was nowhere to be found.
Courtney Menzies:
"And the common-law, he wasn't around?"
Carlos Jimenez, Brother of Deceased
"He wasn't around, he said he went to San Pedro but because said he was in the burying ground."
Courtney Menzies:
"And your family suspects he is the culprit?"
Carlos Jimenez, Brother of Deceased
"Well, he is the only suspect, he's the last one that saw her alive at the moment."
"They had arguments and stuff but I never saw anything physical like that, never. So I don't know what happened."
Later, doctors confirmed that there was bruising on her neck.
And for this family, it's another tragedy just two years after their homes had been burnt down.
In 2021, Verde spoke to us about the sorrow she felt.
Leslie Verde
"We are not family that can say we will get our house burned down and the next day we could build back. We are not rich, we didn't have fancy houses, but we worked hard for it and that's the main thing that hurts."
The family managed to rebuild, and now, they will have to do so again. Jimenez said it's especially difficult for her children.
Carlos Jimenez, Brother of Deceased
"They're taking lick. They're crying, everyday they ask if their mom will get better. They are still asking if their mom will get better… and their mom… and they know their mom won't get better."
"She was a good mother, she was a good role model for her kids, good aunty, would have been a good grandmother. You would never think she would do that. She's blessed, she has nothing to kill herself for."
"You guys obscenity up. You messed with the wrong family, please leave us alone. They messed with the wrong family, because they killed my sister and that wasn't supposed to happen, she didn't deserve it. So please, I just want justice and… I don't know what else to say but they killed my sister. Somebody killed my sister."
Police have yet to say whether they have anyone in custody, but for now, the entire Caye Caulker community is mourning along with Verde's family.
Seleny Villanueva Pott, Chairlady, Caye Caulker
"Courtney, it's never easy when we get that kind of news here on Caye Caulker, Caye Caulker is a very small and tight knit community so whenever you get news like this, it's, I think it takes you aback and it's more of a shock the anything else and in this case, when the nurse called and explained everything, I felt like, almost like it was a family member because knowing this young lady and knowing who she is, hard worker, she's always with her family, we just saw her last weekend trick or treating with her three kids, it's heart wrenching to know that these children will be left without a mother so it's hard to even begin to digest."
Just before news time, police announced that they have arrested and charged 44-year-old Juan Carlos Novelo for Verde's murder.
