BELIZE CITY, Fri. Feb. 23, 2018– He has been in the news several times, in some instances as the perpetrator and at other times as the target.
Today, Akeem Augustine, 23, a laborer of 10 Croton Lane, was the defendant. He appeared before Magistrate Michelle Trapp and was charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of use of deadly means of harm, one count of dangerous harm and two counts of aggravated assault.
No plea was taken from him because the offenses for which he was charged are indictable. Neither could the court offer him bail because of the nature of the offenses. He was remanded into custody until May 17.
The charges are in connection with a shooting incident that occurred 10:30 p.m. on February 21. The victim, Emerson Garnett, 25, reported to the police that he was in a yard on Police Street socializing with friends, Shawn Roches and Houston Apolonio, when a lone gunman opened fire at them.
Garnett was shot in his chest. He was admitted to ward at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where his condition has been described as critical but stable.
Roches was unhurt, but Apolonio was grazed by a bullet. He was treated at the hospital and he was released.
Augustine was acquitted of the murder of Ardon Belgrave, 27, last year. Belgrave, an employee of the Belize City Council, was shot and killed on Caesar Ridge Road on March 19, 2013. Augustine was shot at last year at the J’ouvert parade, but he escaped unhurt.