Four days after a deadly public shooting inside a Belize City bar left a 34-year-old mother of three dead and two others wounded, law enforcement officials have formally charged a 16-year-old male minor with first-degree murder in connection with the shocking incident. The victim, identified as Salma Funez, was gunned down at the venue on May 7, in an attack that has sent shockwaves through the local community over the youth of the accused and the brazen nature of the killing.
Beyond the murder charge, the teenage suspect, a resident of Lord’s Bank, also faces two additional counts of attempted murder for the two other people injured during the attack. Investigative updates from Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith, a senior staff officer with the Belize police force, outline that the minor brought a pre-obtained stolen weapon to the bar, contradicting any early speculation that the attack was unplanned or spontaneous.
According to Smith’s latest briefing to reporters, the murder weapon is confirmed to be legally owned by the employer of the suspect’s father. Investigators believe the teen accessed the weapon by sneaking into the property and cracking open a locked safe where the licensed firearm was stored. A damaged cellphone was also recovered from the scene of the shooting, which investigators are currently examining as potential evidence. Early unconfirmed reports that the suspect and victim had a prior personal relationship remain under active review, with Smith noting that investigators have not yet confirmed the validity of that line of inquiry.
As the investigation progresses, police confirmed that additional charges related to the illegal theft and possession of the stolen firearm are expected to be filed against the minor in the coming days. The case has raised urgent questions in Belize about youth violence, unsecured storage of licensed firearms, and the circumstances that led to a minor carrying out a fatal public attack.
This report is based on a broadcast transcript from local Belizean news outlets, first published on May 11, 2026.