On June 18, 2026, families of the three murdered Ramnarace family members entered Belize’s High Court in Belmopan anticipating a final resolution to a case that has stretched for nearly four years. Instead, they left the grieving process on pause, after Justice Nigel Pilgrim delayed the sentencing of former police corporal Elmer Nah to the following morning.
Nah was found guilty by a jury on May 29 this year for one of the most brutal acts of violence Belmopan has seen in recent years: a premeditated New Year’s Eve 2022 shooting inside the Ramnarace family home that left Jon, David, and Vivian Ramnarace dead. Yenie Alberto, the fourth target, survived the attempted murder, leaving her to carry lifelong trauma from the attack.
Emotion hung heavy in the courtroom as Vashti Belisle, speaking on behalf of the victim’s family, delivered a raw, 30-minute victim impact statement that detailed the irreparable hole left by the killings. Belisle recalled Vivian Ramnarace — a loving mother and dedicated public servant — and shared a chilling final memory from the night of the attack: a frantic emergency call from Vivian begging for help, with the plea “We just got shot up. Come for the baby.” The revelation left the courtroom gripped by the violence that shattered the quiet community.
Prosecutors pushed aggressively for a life sentence, outlining multiple aggravating factors that warrant the harshest possible punishment. They noted the attack targeted multiple people, was carried out brazenly inside a private family home, and left a young child who witnessed the killings with permanent psychological harm. Justice Pilgrim echoed the severity of these details, adding that one victim was a serving public servant and that court evidence clearly indicates the murders were planned in advance, not a spontaneous act of violence.
In contrast, Nah’s defense team, led by attorney Dr. Lynden Jones, argued for leniency, asking the court to weigh Nah’s decades of prior service as a law enforcement officer, his clean criminal record before the 2022 attack, and the potential for rehabilitation. Nah himself did not address the court, and no witnesses were called to testify in his support. When pressed for comment by reporter Shane Williams of News Five, Nah offered only a brief, cryptic line in Kriol: “Noh watch me fall. Watch me rise.”
After closing arguments from both legal teams, Justice Pilgrim announced he needed additional time to carefully review all submissions and evidence before handing down a ruling that will determine whether Nah spends the rest of his life in prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. on June 19, 2026, leaving the Ramnarace family to wait one more day for the closure they have long sought.