BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 12, 2015–A panel of three Court of Appeal justices denied the appeal of Lloyd Elijio, 23, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence following his October 28, 2014 conviction for attempted murder.

The court affirmed his conviction and sentence on Tuesday when he appeared unrepresented before Appeal justices Minet Hafiz-Betram, Christopher Blackman and president of the court, Hon. Justice Manuel Sosa.

Elijio told the court that someone at the prison had assisted him in preparing the grounds for his appeal.

Elijio based his first ground of appeal on the question of identity. He contended that the virtual complainant, Mark Lord, had identified him as Lawrence Elijio, but his real name is Lloyd Elijio. Lord had also identified him in court as Lawrence Elijio.

Elijio’s second ground of appeal was that no identification parade was held.

The court asked him whether the victim of the attempted murder, Mark Lord, had identified him in court during the trial. Elijio told the judges, “yes;” Lord had identified him at the trial.

In dismissing the appeal, the court noted that Elijio has a previous conviction for violent crime at a relatively young age.

In the afternoon of October 25, 2009, Lord was walking across the Belize City Swing Bridge, and when he turned into Hyde’s Lane, he realized that he was being followed by Elijio, a man whom he knew very well.

As Lord turned into Hyde’s Lane and began heading in the direction of Barracks Road, Elijio opened fire, hitting him in the chest.

Lord, however, survived the shooting and testified against Elijio at the attempted murder trial before Justice John “Troadio” Gonzalez.

At his Supreme Court trial, the jury of five men and four women deliberated for three hours before returning to the courtroom to announce their guilty of attempted murder verdict.

At the Supreme Court trial, Elijio had also represented himself.

When Elijio returned to court for his sentencing on November 3, 2014, he did not bring any character witnesses to speak on his behalf, but told the court that he was sorry for what he had done and asked for leniency, because he is the father of a 4-year-old daughter and had another child on the way, and he was his family’s breadwinner.

Both at Elijio’s Supreme Court trial and at the Court of Appeal, the Crown was represented by Crown Counsel Sheiniza Smith.