Nearly eleven months after a fatal traffic accident claimed the life of a police officer Arcenio Cus on the Philip Goldson Highway, businessman and Thirsty Thursday owner Khris Rosado has pleaded guilty to causing death by careless conduct. Rosado appeared today before Justice Derick Sylvester in the High Court, where he accepted responsibility for the fatal collision that resulted in the death of Cus on July 28, 2025. Rosado was represented by attorney Dr. Lynden Jones, while Crown Counsel Maria Nembhard-Santana appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Following the accident, Rosado was initially charged with five offenses: manslaughter by negligence, causing death by careless conduct, driving without due care and attention, failure to stop and render aid, and failure to report an accident. He was arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate's Court on November 12, 2025, and was granted bail of $6,000 plus two sureties of $3,000 each.
A Preliminary Inquiry was later held on February 3, 2026, after prosecutors presented more than 100 pages of disclosure materials, photographs, and video evidence. Rosado was committed to stand trial for manslaughter by negligence, but the matter proceeded in the High Court on an indictment of causing death by careless conduct.
According to police reports, the fatal collision occurred around 11:25 a.m. on July 28, 2025, between miles six and seven on the Philip Goldson Highway. Investigators determined that PC Arsenio Cus, 38, of Silver Creek Village, was riding a motorcycle from Ladyville toward Belize City when a black vehicle entered his lane and collided with him. The impact caused Cus to lose control of his motorcycle and suffer severe injuries to his head and abdomen. He was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Police subsequently detained Rosado at his Ladyville residence, where officers located a damaged 2009 Honda Ridgeline pickup truck believed to have been involved in the collision. A post-mortem examination later confirmed that Officer Cus died from multiple blunt force traumatic injuries sustained in the road traffic accident. Rosado is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, 2026.
