BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 24, 2015–Two Belize City men were remanded to prison after they were arraigned before Magistrate Ladonna John this morning on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Lloyd Leslie, 23, a laborer and resident of 5 Bocotora Street, and Dwayne Evelin, 25, a laborer and resident of 17 Armadillo Street, both entered not guilty pleas after Magistrate John read the charge to them.

Magistrate John explained to the men that because the offense for which they were charged was allegedly committed with a firearm, her court could not offer them bail.

“You have to apply to the Supreme Court for bail,” she told the two men, before they were remanded to prison until their next court date, October 26.

According to police, on Thursday, August 20, Leslie, Evelin, “and others” committed aggravated assault upon Delbert Palacio, a 16-year-old minor.

Police reported on Friday, August 21, that sometime around 8:49 p.m. on Thursday, there was a shooting incident in the vicinity of Fairweather Street Bridge, where the 16-year-old minor was shot in the abdomen. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted in a critical but stable condition.