A quiet community in northern Belize’s Corozal District is reeling from a violent tragedy that has left a family shattered and searching for answers, after 41-year-old Deovan Hall was fatally shot multiple times near a cane field outside San Antonio Village. The killing, which unfolded on a September evening in 2026, has left his two young children without a father and his partner demanding accountability for the senseless act.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero confirmed details of the incident, saying law enforcement was dispatched to the area shortly after receiving 911 calls alerting them to the shooting. According to preliminary law enforcement accounts, Hall was riding his bicycle home from a local community event when he was confronted by unknown attackers, who opened fire on him before fleeing the scene. The gunshots caused fatal injuries that claimed Hall’s life before first responders could reach him.
For Sharlean Robateau, Hall’s common-law partner of many years, the last interaction she shared with him was an ordinary, routine moment that has now become a heart-wrenching memory. Hall had just passed her sister’s home after leaving the village event, when he used the couple’s private, quiet signal—a familiar whistle—to let her know he was nearby. When Robateau stepped outside to ask where he was heading, Hall told her he was just going a short distance away to pick up a bit of food.
Robateau headed back inside with their children, and roughly 15 minutes later, she said she heard what she described as five consecutive gunshots ring out across the quiet neighborhood. At the time, she did not connect the sound to Hall, until late that night, when Hall’s father knocked on her door asking if his son had returned home. When Robateau said he had not, the pair launched a search that ended in the devastating discovery of Hall’s body near the nearby cane field.
Robateau remembers Hall as a deeply devoted father who prioritized every moment he could spend with his two sons. He frequently took the boys on outdoor adventures—fishing in local waterways, hunting in the surrounding bush, and traveling to nearby communities to watch local football matches. Robateau described the boys as inseparable from their father, saying “they stick on to him like ticks” wherever he went.
Up to this point, police have not released any information about possible suspects or motives for the killing, leaving Robateau and her family with no explanation for why Hall was targeted. In an interview expressing her grief, Robateau said she cannot fathom why anyone would want to harm a man like Hall, and she is demanding that investigators deliver full justice for his death. “I don’t think it fair to make them just take away an innocent life and leave two innocent kids fatherless,” she said.
Robateau wants Hall to be remembered not as a victim of violence, but as a loving, generous member of the small village community who was always the first to offer a helping hand to anyone in need. “I would like him to be remembered as a loving person, caring person. He always willing to give a helping hand. And he’ll forever be in our hearts,” she said.