In the wake of growing public outcry over the death of a pretrial detainee at Belize Central Prison, new details have emerged about the final hours of Phillip Bowen, a 50-something asthma patient who suffered a fatal attack in custody in early April 2026.
Bowen, who was being held awaiting trial in connection with a high-profile 2020 double homicide in Hopkins Village, suffered a sudden, severe asthma exacerbation in the early morning of April 7, 2026, and died while being transported to the country’s main tertiary hospital, the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH). His passing has prompted widespread public concern, with community leaders and activists demanding a full independent investigation into whether gaps in prison medical care contributed to his death.
Local outlet 7 News Belize first broke the story of Bowen’s death on April 8, and has since followed up with an on-the-record account from the top official of the Kolbe Foundation, the non-governmental organization that manages Belize’s only maximum-security prison. In an exclusive interview, Kolbe Foundation CEO Virgilio Murillo defended the institution’s response, outlining a step-by-step timeline of the emergency care Bowen received in his final minutes.
According to Murillo’s account, at approximately 7:20 a.m. on the day of his death, Bowen reported feeling unwell to fellow inmates and immediately requested formal medical assistance. As a known chronic asthma patient, correctional and medical staff moved quickly to redirect him to the on-site prison medical center, and Bowen was able to access his personal inhaler shortly after symptoms began. Even with emergency bronchodilator treatment, however, the attack progressed far too rapidly for on-site interventions to reverse it. Murillo confirmed that Bowen collapsed just before reaching the prison medical facility, prompting emergency response teams to activate the prison’s standby ambulance for immediate transport to KHMH.
Murillo emphasized that the entire activation process from collapse to ambulance departure took just seven minutes, a timeline he says meets all national correctional emergency response standards. “It was very timely and there was no delay,” Murillo told reporters, noting that Bowen was able to walk independently from his housing unit, the RRC building, nearly all the way to the medical center before his condition deteriorated suddenly. Despite the rapid response, Bowen was pronounced dead by medical personnel en route to the downtown Belize City hospital.
As of press time, official investigative reports into Bowen’s death are still being compiled by Belizean law enforcement and correctional oversight agencies. Bowen’s death comes amid longstanding international criticism of conditions at Belize Central Prison, particularly around access to chronic disease care for pretrial detainees, a population that makes up more than 60% of the institution’s inmate population. Local activists have reiterated calls for a full public release of the autopsy report and emergency response logs to confirm whether any procedural failures contributed to the death. This report is a transcribed excerpt from 7 News Belize’s evening television broadcast, with all non-standard Kriol language adapted to a consistent standardized spelling system for digital publication.