A Chinese restaurant owner’s wife has been shot to death in cold blood during a robbery of the restaurant, while she had her 7-month-old daughter tied to her back, who fortunately was not injured.
The killing of Zhen Mong Chen, 26, recently migrated from the Republic of China, of Alwins Restaurant located in Santa Elena Town, Cayo District, has left her husband, Nanxin Chen, grief-stricken, and young daughter motherless.
Leading investigator, Sergeant Reyes, for the Cayo District, told Amandala that on Sunday around 10:45 p.m., police responded to a report of a shooting incident, and when they arrived at the restaurant, they found Chen lying on her back with a gunshot wound to the right side of the chest, apparently dead.
According to Chen’s husband, around 10:30 p.m., while the restaurant was still open for business, three youths of Creole descent, between the ages of fourteen and fifteen, entered their restaurant and ordered food.
Nanxin Chen retired to the kitchen to prepare the meal, after which he heard an argument between his wife and the young men, which was followed by the echoing of a gunshot through the establishment.
Chen, who had recently migrated to Belize in November 2008, was shot in the right side of the chest; the bullet exited her body and hit the wall. She collapsed on her back from the impact and died immediately. Although uninjured, the child was covered with her mother’s blood.
The three youths who had entered the restaurant bare faced, stole an undisclosed amount of cash and BTL phone cards.
The husband noted that when he came out of the kitchen area he saw his wife lying on the ground, and at that time, the three young men had on masks.
On their way out, one of the assailants took his weapon and hit Nanxin in the right side of the face.
Witnesses say that when the three young men exited the restaurant, they were still wearing the masks.
Chen was rushed to the San Ignacio Hospital, but was pronounced dead upon arrival. Police suspect the murder weapon to be a .38 revolver, as they had recovered a slug but no expended shell.