Tonight, police are on high alert after a prominent former gang figure was viciously executed over the Easter weekend.
Clay Mansanto was a prominent gang figure back in the late 90's, until he migrated to the US, where his mother had been living since he was a child. But 7 months ago, 51-year-old Clay Mansanto was deported. And on Friday evening, he was executed in his yard.
According to his family, Mansanto had not been involved in any gang activity since he came back, but the younger rival gang members did not take the chance that he would return to his old ways. The gunman let off almost two dozen bullets, ensuring Mansanto's demise.
So while most Belizeans were taking a break over the long holiday weekend, Mansanto's family has been trying to make sense of such a vicious murder. While they acknowledge his past, they say he had truly changed his life.
His brother, Raymond "Footie" Gongora said that they're not planning to fight fire with fire, he just wants to grieve the brother he raised like a son.
Courtney Menzies spoke with him today and has this story.
51-year-old Clay Uter known as Mansanto left Belize about two decades ago to escape his past. 7 months ago, he was deported, but this time around, he made major changes in his life.
But despite turning over a new leaf, Mansanto was ambushed at his own home. On Friday at about 4:00 in the afternoon, a motorcycle pulled up in front of his house, and a gunman in slippers hopped off, tried to open the gate, and when he couldn't, he jumped over it and dashed across the yard where you can hear him let off as many more than 20 rounds.
Mansanto tried to run, but ultimately collapsed and died in his neighbor's yard - the echo of the gunshots shattering the quiet of Good Friday in Gungulung. It was maximum use of firepower - the gunman took no chance.
His brother, Ramond Gongora who works with the LIU in keeping the peace between gang members on the Belize City Streets, said that he is in a state of shock.
But he emphasized that while his brother was involved in criminal activities before, he was back in Belize to live a new life.
Raymond "Footie" Gongora, Brother of Deceased
"It's a feeling I don't even want to remember because it was a real shocker. Me and my brother talk like every night, and every time in the day when we get a chance to go over and see him, we sit down and we talk because he had migrated to the states twenty something years ago and now he's back because of deportation but he didn't come back when the intention to be back in the gang or do anything when it came to gangs, he came back to try, he has a lot of kids and he came back and I said, Clay, you have to try to get to know your kids and grandkids and start to live with them and show them love."
"But that feeling, it just sinks you, it makes you feel like you can't move on."
And while this family mourns, they aren't seeking any sort of retaliation. However, both his brother and sister - who raised him from when he was about eight years old - explained that they warned Mansanto about the danger his life might have been in.
Voice of: Juanita Mansanto, Sister of Deceased
"When he first came and I spoke to him, I said, brother, what are your intentions, he said I will stay here a little bit and I said, well, just be careful because remember you have a past and you don't know who is who or whose child is whose child that you went from here and had a problem with but you gotta be careful."
"I don't know what is the reason they killed him, if it was because of his past or recent things because a couple months ago they killed his best friend so I don't know if it was that came back or it's something he did because right now, he's not on any kind of problems."
Raymond "Footie" Gongora, Brother of Deceased "He always tell me, Ray, I don't trust because I'm doing nothing but this new generation of kids is so different so I told him just be careful, that's all I told him."
And back in 2001, Mansanto himself said that he was trying to leave the gang life, but the rival gangs wouldn't leave him alone. In January of that year, they murdered his infant son while targeting him, but he said he wasn't planning to retaliate.
JANUARY 29th 30th 2001
Clay Mansanto
"They're just taking this advantage now because they see I'm holding it down and I have my life straight, I don't know if it's an envy business, the way how I stepped up and did a thing in my life, you know, anywhere they see me enjoying myself, they would say, what, you're enjoying yourself. Like, what are you doing out here so late, like they say it and try to walk away, anywhere they see me they try to scare me and I'm trying my best to not get into trouble because I have an alright job, I get good help and they're really trying to turn me around like this is hard on me but I will make the law deal with this, I don't have any retaliation to retaliate."
But, 23 year later, the violence of the streets continued to stalk Clay Mansanto - but it never seemed to weigh him down. Mansanto was known for his upbeat personality.
Raymond "Footie" Gongora, Brother of Deceased
"I know my brother was a very jovial person, liked to play around, liked to dance, he has a sweet mouth and that's how I remember my brother and that's how I want to remember him because that's who he was, regardless of all this that's around, he was a jovial person. A lot of people loved him because they knew who he was."
"And he was a very Godly man, he read his psalms everyday and that's how I want to remember him. It's hard for me right now but I put it in God's hand because only God knows best, only God knows best and that's all I can say."
"When we saw him this time, I don't know if he came to tell us goodbye but it felt so good to see him again because we really missed each other for all those years and we felt so good to be able to talk to each other again, catch up on the past, it really felt good."
"It hurt me because I loved him and I'll never stop loving him because we had a good thing going on, me and him."
Going back to the 90's Mansanto was known to be a close personal friend and associate of Jose Matus, who was killed in a similar street style execution two and a half months ago.
Mansanto had ten children in all, two of whom passed away, including the infant that died in his arms back in 2001.
