A social hangout turned deadly on Saturday night on Central American Boulevard when a man was gunned down by someone he considered a friend. 24 year old Mark Waight was standing in front of a yard when the shots rang out.
But he wasn't the only one who was hit. A female named Francis Herbert was shot for the second time - the first being when her daughter, 5 year old Kia Herbert, was killed. So tonight, this mother is in the ICU clinging to life.
Courtney Menzies spoke with her mother and has this story.
Belize City saw its second murder for the year on Saturday night when 24 year old Mark Waight was fatally shot on Central American Boulevard. He had been socializing with some friends in front of a home when an argument started. Reports are it was a member of the same group of friends he was with that pulled out a firearm and began firing shots. Waight was killed on the scene and his body fell into a drain.
33 year old Francis Herbert was also shot and she is currently at the KHMH. Herbert is the mother of 5 year old Kia Herbert who was shot dead while sleeping inside their home back in 2020.
Today Kia's grandmother said she didn't know what to expect after she heard her daughter was in the hospital.
Voice of: Desiree Herbert, Mother of Shooting Victim
"I was by a wake, one of my coworkers, and I got the call about 10:30 and they told me that my daughter got into an accident and I need to reach hospital, when I got to the hospital I found her. She said she got shot on the Boulevard."
"It was a frightening experience because I didn't know what I was going to face. I didn't even know it was a shooting at the time until I reached and found out that she got shot."
And while she is recovering, her family is still unsure of what exactly happened.
Voice of: Desiree Herbert, Mother of Shooting Victim
"She's doing a lot better, she's in a lot of pain but she's in the the ICU and the doctors are doing a great job. She's coming around a lot."
"When it comes to talking, she's not talking much because of the tubes in her nose and things like that, they don't want her to talk too much, so she hasn't said much. She was running, when she heard the first gunshot, she ran and when she ran, she got shot in her back. and from there she said she stopped a vehicle and they took her to the hospital."
Courtney Menzies:
"Is that an area she usually goes to hang out?"
Voice of: Desiree Herbert, Mother of Shooting Victim
"I'm not sure, but a little up more, she usually goes, by my daughter in law house she would go and socialize with them."
Herbert is reportedly Waight's cousin. Waight leaves behind a 3 month old baby.
Back in 2019, Waight was acquitted of two charges. In June, he walked from a murder charge for Amandala journalist, Kareem Clarke. Then in December he beat an attempted murder charge for the 2015 shooting of a woman, Jamilia Neal.
