BELIZE CITY, Fri. May 25, 2018– Brandon Hughes, 18, a resident of Aloe Vera Street, was charged with the murder of businessman Oscar Rosado, Sr., 70, when he appeared today before the Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser. No plea was taken from him because the offense is of an indictable nature. It was also not possible, because of the nature of the offense, for the court to offer Hughes bail. He was remanded into custody until July 25.

The incident for which Hughes was charged — a robbery which culminated in the killing of Rosado — occurred around 1:30 p.m. on April 23 at Rosado Hardware Supplies, located on Cemetery Road next to Lord Ridge Cemetery. Three men entered the store, one of them armed with a firearm, pretending that they were returning to get some nails. The gunman then held up Rosado’s wife, Elena Rosado, at gunpoint. She tried to alert her husband that it was going to be a robbery but he came from where he was in the store and shoved the gunman. The gunman then shot him twice in his face, killing him instantly.

The robbers then stole $1,000 from Rosado’s wallet. Two police officers who were in the vicinity pursued the robbers. They fired shots at the robbers as they fled and the gunman returned fire. But the officers were no match for the robbers, who easily outran them and escaped.

Hughes was later apprehended.