The gunman left her money – $3,700 – and cell phone
The senseless murder of a popular female businesswoman has left residents of the capital city, Belmopan, in dismay.
At this point, there are still a lot of questions surrounding the gruesome killing of a 29-year-old female resident of the Las Flores area in Belmopan who was apparently shot in the head mercilessly sometime last night in the Hillview area of Las Flores.
Police reports are that around 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3, they visited the Hillview area in Las Flores near Marla’s House of Hope Children’s Home, where they discovered the body of Zoila Elizabeth Garcia, 29, a Belizean of #9 Orquidia Street in the Las Flores area, with an apparent head injury.
Amandala understands that Garcia was a well-known BTL and SMART phone Top Up agent. Her family members believe that sometime before 8:00 last night, she was going to deposit her earnings with her boss, and that’s when someone probably ambushed her, cold-bloodedly shot her in the head and left her on the street.
We spoke to her sister, Evelyn Marlene Garcia, and she told us that her sister was a friendly person who got along with everyone in her community. “I knew that she [Zoila] had a lot of friends, and she was friendly with everyone. She used to sell credit, and I guess that is how people got to know her better. She was very outgoing. She liked to travel a lot and laugh a lot,” she said.
Evelyn said that the last time she saw Zoila was on Saturday when they went out together to Spanish Lookout, and that she will miss her sister because they were very close. “We shared everything we had with each other. I don’t know; it’s just hard for me. We used to go out together. We used to share our personal problems, and try to be together. I just want justice because I don’t think it’s really fair what they did to her, because it didn’t seem like she had any problems with anyone. Right now, I am just confused, and I have no clue why they did this. So, I want justice,” Evelyn stated.
According to Evelyn, the incident has taken a huge toll on the family, who are presently emotionally distraught, especially since this is the second tragedy to befall the Garcia family within a year. Zoila Elizabeth’s brother, Alley, was also killed in 2012.
This afternoon, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sinquest Martinez, the Officer in Charge of the Belmopan Police Formation, briefed the media on what their investigations have uncovered so far.
Martinez said, “Police were on mobile patrol last night when they came across Elizabeth Garcia’s body. We processed the scene; the body was taken to the Western Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival by the doctor. So far, what we have gathered is that there are two different angles that we are following as it pertains to this investigation. I am not at liberty to divulge them because that could have an impact on the investigation. We are following them; the post-mortem, as we speak, is being conducted in Belize City today. We have no leads as yet. We need to establish those; we need to find a motive. We have one person detained.”
While the family suspects that Zoila Elizabeth Garcia may have been lured to her death from her house to meet someone who had presumably called her to take care of a transaction, speculations are that it could have also been a crime of passion. Those theories, however, remain unconfirmed.
Area residents reported hearing something that sounded like a single gunshot, but thought nothing of it, since children in the neighborhood are frequently lighting firecrackers during this time of the year.
After ruthlessly shooting Garcia in the back of the head, the assailant/s reportedly left Garcia’s phone and money – $3,700 to be exact – on her person as she lay dead on the ground.
Police said that the area in which the body was found was isolated at the time, and they are requesting the public’s assistance in solving her murder.