by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Oct. 19, 2022
Street figure Nicholi Rhys, 31, who was accused of fatally shooting 31-year-old Jose Moh, a cab driver of the Kings Park area of Belize City, near the Mile 8 community on the George Price Highway, walked free after it was ruled that there was no case against him, due to the absence in court of a key witness,
The shooting had occurred in 2018. A security guard at Prosser Fertilizer had called the police around 11:00 in the night to report that he had heard sounds of gunshots in the area. When Hattieville police arrived at the scene, they saw a white Toyota Camry on the side of the road in the bushes, and when they began searching the area, they found Moh’s motionless body with visible gunshot wounds to his head and the right side of his chest.
According to police reports at the time, Moh had received a call from someone requesting a taxi ride to Mile 8, and Moh, who was accompanied by his girlfriend, went to pick up a man on Vernon Street.
After picking the man up, Moh proceeded to drive toward the Mile 8 community, but while he was heading to that destination, a second individual was picked up, and when the vehicle was approaching Homeland Memorial Park, the men ordered Moh to turn off the highway, into a feeder road. It was at that point that Moh’s girlfriend noticed that one of the men had a gun, and as the vehicle was slowing while Moh made the turn, she jumped out of the car and ran to Prosser Fertilizer, where she asked the security guard on the compound to call the police.
Rhys, who is a well-known street figure from the George Street area, appeared on Monday, October 17, before Justice Ricardo O’Neal the Supreme Court, where his attorney, Leroy Banner, entered a no-case submission on his behalf after the prosecution could not locate Moh’s former girlfriend to testify in court. The submission was upheld, and Rhys was able to walk free. He had been on remand from 2018-2021, when he was granted bail.
Police had indicated that Moh was killed because he had provided taxi services to a rival gang.