Belize is reeling from a brutal, senseless act of violence that has left the entire nation in mourning and demanding accountability, after a 23-year-old pregnant woman was shot and killed by motorbike-riding gunmen at a public bus stop just one day before Father’s Day 2026.
Jane Urbina, seven months pregnant with a baby boy she and her partner had eagerly anticipated, had just wrapped up a visit with her brother Lionel Urbina at Belize Central Prison in Hattieville when the attack unfolded. She was standing at the bus stop alongside her mother, who was forced to watch helplessly as the gunmen opened fire, killing both Jane and her unborn child instantly.
For Jane’s partner, who had been preparing to welcome his namesake son with the young mother, the sudden loss remains unthinkable. In an emotional phone interview with local outlet News Five, he described her joy in the final days before her death. “The last time I saw her was Friday morning before she left, because she spent the whole week here with me. She was just so happy,” he said, speaking in Belizean Kriol. “I just can’t believe this. I still can’t process this. I don’t know how to feel. To be real with you, I haven’t eaten anything since it happened. Everything we talked about was the baby. She couldn’t wait to meet him, we were so excited to see what he would look like, all the little things that new parents look forward to. We were just so happy.”
The trauma of the attack falls heaviest on Jane’s mother, who witnessed her daughter’s final moments. Close friend Whitney Hyde shared the devastating details the elder Urbina described to her after the attack. “When we spoke the morning Jane died, her mom told me Jane was begging her, ‘Mom, please, please help me. Please give me air, I can’t breathe,’” Hyde said in a phone interview. “When she said those words, I just burst into tears. I never expected anyone would want to kill Jane in such a brutal way.” The entire family is now left with raw, unprocessed grief, clinging only to memories of the young woman who was days away from starting a new chapter as a mother.
Investigators from the Belize Police Department are currently working to trace the motive for the targeted killing. A leading line of inquiry centers on the 2025 murder of Kevin DePaz, a case that resulted in Lionel Urbina being taken into custody and held on remand at Belize Central Prison. The visit Jane made to her brother just minutes before the attack has added to speculation that the killing is connected to the ongoing legal case, though no official conclusions have been released.
The tragedy has also sparked new questions about mental health support for incarcerated people who experience the sudden loss of a close family member. Lionel Urbina, who will never get to see his sister alive again after their final visit, is currently being monitored by prison authorities. George Gomez, CEO of the Kolbe Foundation which manages operations at Belize Central Prison, confirmed that the institution has already taken steps to support him.
“Mr. Urbina is held in Tango Ten, a restricted protocol cell unit where he is housed alone and monitored regularly, an arrangement that was in place before this incident,” Gomez explained. “After the attack, investigators came to the prison to speak with him, and he was able to place a call to his mother. He is scheduled to meet with our prison psychologist within the hour for an initial assessment.”
Gomez noted that Lionel has not shown outward signs of severe distress so far, but staff are conducting regular check-ins to monitor his mental state. In addition to on-site psychologists, inmates have access to pastoral care and referrals to external mental health specialists when needed. One major outstanding request, however, hinges on court approval: because Lionel is being held on remand, any request for him to leave custody to attend his sister’s funeral must be approved by the judiciary, and the petition will now be filed by his family.
As the manhunt for Jane Urbina’s killers continues, the Belizean public is demanding swift action and answers, grappling with how such a brutal act of violence could be carried out in broad daylight, in front of dozens of witnesses, against a young woman who had done nothing to deserve such a fate. What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration for new and expecting fathers has been turned into a period of national mourning for a life and future cut tragically short.
This report was compiled from original on-the-ground reporting by Britney Gordon for News Five.