BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 17, 2016–The Hemsley family of the Yarborough area is mourning the death of Godfrey Hemsley, Jr., 39, which occurred at about 9:00 last night at the Yarborough basketball court.

Hemsley, who loved basketball, had just played a game of basketball and was resting on the bleachers when his killer approached from behind and shot him.

According to witnesses, Hemsley’s killer is a boy between fourteen and fifteen years of age and was so tiny in stature that he appeared to be “about 3 feet tall.”

Police on patrol in the area rushed Hemsley to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.

Hemsley’s bereaved family said that the boy who shot Hemsley, the father of a 9-year-old daughter, was like a family-member – he was so well-known to them.

Today, the youth was arrested, charged by police and taken to the Belize City Family Court, where he was arraigned on the offense, after which he was remanded to the Wagner Youth Facility of the Belize Central Prison.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that he suspects that the murder is gang-related, because in the past, Hemsley was affiliated with gangs, although, to repeat a popular refrain, he had since changed his life and was no longer in a gang.

ACP Williams said that an operation was conducted in the Yarborough area last night and two guns were found, and police strongly believe that one of the guns was used to murder Hemsley.

However, this is not the first time that an attempt had been made on Hemsley’s life. In April 2005, he survived a murderous gun attack when an unknown gunman rode up on a bicycle and shot him eight times while he was walking on Albert Street.

Hemsley was shot in the legs, arms and midsection, then the gunman escaped.

Also, in May of 2006, a gunman fired a number of times at his mother’s house. Hemsley escaped unhurt, but his aunt was injured.