For Sandy Smith and her son Shamar, October had always been a month marked by double celebrations: their birthdays fell just one day apart, a yearly tradition they had enjoyed for two decades. But in 2026, that joyful routine has been shattered by senseless gun violence. Instead of decorating for a joint birthday party, the Belize City mother is now making funeral arrangements for her 20-year-old child, who was shot and killed on Pelican Street late Thursday night. His killing has left yet another family grieving amid a persistent wave of gun violence plaguing the city, and law enforcement officials are working overtime to prevent a cycle of retaliatory killing that could follow.
Shamar Smith was socializing with a group of people along Pelican Street shortly after 9:30 p.m. when multiple suspects arrived in a vehicle and opened fire directly at him, according to official details from the Belize National Crimes Investigation Branch. Responding officers found the young man’s body in a nearby drain, where he had fallen after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) but was pronounced dead on arrival, confirmed ACP Hilberto Romero, head of the National Crimes Investigation Branch, in a statement to local media.
Sandy Smith was at work when she received the first phone call with news of the shooting. In an interview with News Five, she recalled that she initially refused to believe the report, until a second call confirmed the worst. She left her job immediately and rushed to the scene, where she found her son lying dead on the street. “It’s not a nice feeling. It’s not something any parent ever wants to see, their child lying on the ground like that,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I have to put everything in God’s hands.”
Law enforcement records show Shamar Smith was not unknown to authorities. He had previously been charged in connection with a 2024 shooting incident at the Roaring Creek Police Station, and earlier this year, investigators named him as a suspect in a separate shooting in Belize City. ACP Romero confirmed that Smith had longstanding ongoing rivalries with multiple individuals in the city, a conflict that investigators believe is the root cause of his murder.
That potential gang-related rivalry has authorities on high alert for follow-up violence. Law enforcement teams have launched targeted operations across Belize City and held multiple strategic meetings aimed at preventing any retaliatory attacks in the wake of Smith’s killing. “There is concern that there will be retaliation at the moment,” Romero told reporters. “We are launching several operations and holding several meetings to try and hold down any threat of any retaliation.”
For Sandy Smith, the tragedy carries a devastating generational weight: gun violence already claimed the life of Shamar’s father, Floyd McFadzean, back in 2008. The mother told reporters she had long feared the same fate would find her son, and had desperately hoped he would escape the cycle of violence that has trapped so many young people in Belize City. Even as she grieves, she speaks openly about her son’s mistakes, acknowledging that he did not live a perfect life.
“To be honest, yes, Shamar did a lot of things. And like the Bible always says, whatever you reap, you sow. That’s what helps me stay standing here still strong,” she said. “We’re not perfect. Nobody is perfect.”
She remembers her son as a fun-loving, energetic young man, and says she repeatedly gave him good advice and tried to steer him toward a safer path. But she also recognized she could not control his choices, and has leaned on her faith to cope with the unthinkable loss. “I can only give him good advice. And if he doesn’t take it, then I can’t do nothing about it,” she said. “If God says it’s your time to go home, it’s your time to go home.”
Refusing to let anger and hatred consume her in the aftermath of the killing, Sandy Smith says she holds no ill will toward the people responsible for her son’s death. “I don’t hate anybody, and I don’t wish any negative on anybody. All I can say is God knows best, and he will see me through this,” she said.
As of Monday, investigators are still reviewing surveillance footage from the Pelican Street area to identify the attackers. No arrests have been made in connection with Shamar Smith’s murder.