Demsley Deon Arnold, 28, a.k.a. “Butta,” a laboratory technician employed with The Pathology Laboratory, located at the corner of Hudson and Eyre Streets, was gunned down at the corner of Vernon Street and Magazine Road on Friday, February 16.
Arnold was shot three times in the chest. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to a police report, sometime around 3:30 p.m. they responded to shots being fired at the corner of Vernon Street and Magazine Road. When they arrived they saw a man lying on the ground with what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the chest. He was later identified as Demsley Arnold, a resident of #70 Vernon Street.
The police’s initial investigation has revealed that Arnold was walking his bicycle on Magazine Road towards Vernon Street when he was approached by two men on foot.
One of the men pulled out a firearm and shot Arnold, said the police report.
A few hours later, on Saturday February 17, police detained Devon Banner, 20, a resident of a Cedar Street address, for Arnold’s death.
This morning Banner was arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court #1 in front of Chief Magistrate, Margaret Gabb McKenzie, and was charged with murder. He was denied bail and remanded to the Hattieville Prison until he is due to reappear in court.
Police believe that the motive for Arnold’s death could have been robbery, as some of the deceased’s jewelry was missing.
This morning Amandala spoke with the victim’s mother, Diana Arnold, 48, who said that she is still in shock over her son’s senseless death. She had to be admitted to ward for treatment after receiving the news.
Her son was known to wear a lot of jewelry around his neck and hands, she said, and she had warned him about it, but he never listened.
According to Diana, three gold bracelets and a gold chain were stolen from her son. The police have since given her a gold chain and three rings that they found on her son.
The lab technician had left his work at the main office located on Hudson Street sometime after 3:00 p.m. that day to make a drop-off at the Integral Health Service, located at the corner of Gibnut and Curassow Streets.
Demsley never made it there. He was shot two blocks away from his home, located just across the street from Vikings Club, which is located at the corner of Cedar and Vernon Streets, the same area where his alleged assailant lives.
Arnold’s mother said that although she has seen Banner many times, she does not know if Banner and her son had any kind of friendly relationship.
Friends and relatives say that Arnold, a University of Belize graduate, was a well-known basketball player. He was a humble man and did not interfere with anyone, but kept to himself, they said.
Police say they are seeking one more suspect in Demsley Arnold’s death.
Demsley Deon Arnold had been employed with The Pathology Laboratory for the past 6 years, and was once posted at the Intergral Health Services on Curassow and Gibnut Streets.
He is survived by his mother, Diana Arnold; father, Nigel Arnold; four brothers and two sisters.
Funeral services are tentatively scheduled for Saturday, February 24, at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral Church on Regent Street.
A post-mortem is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday.