Five days after 17-year-old Kaylon Trevor David was fatally shot on Belize City’s Iguana Street Extension, law enforcement officials have secured a murder charge against 21-year-old local handyman Louis Matthews. The fatal incident unfolded around 6:30 p.m. last Thursday, as David was walking along the public roadway. Prosecutors claim Matthews fired multiple shots at the teenager, who was quickly transported to Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for emergency care. Despite medical intervention, David succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival.
On Wednesday afternoon, Matthews appeared before a senior magistrate in Belize City without legal representation. Under Belizean judicial procedure, murder is classified as an indictable offense, meaning the court does not accept a plea at this initial hearing. Magistrates ordered Matthews remanded into custody at Belize Central Prison to await further proceedings. Before departing the courtroom, Matthews formally requested a written summary of the criminal allegations against him, confirming he has no access to private legal counsel at this stage of the case.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero, head of the country’s National Crimes Investigation Branch, confirmed the arrest and charge in an on-camera briefing Wednesday. “After a thorough, ongoing investigation, we identified Matthews as the suspected shooter and took him into custody,” Romero told reporters. When asked to confirm the potential motive for the brazen daytime killing, Romero confirmed law enforcement’s working theory points to a long-simmering neighborhood rivalry between David and other local individuals, including Matthews. “There has been ongoing tension and threats exchanged between parties in that area for some time,” Romero added.
This report is adapted from a verbatim transcript of an evening television news broadcast, with original Kriol-language testimony standardized to conventional English spelling for this online publication.