Photo: Jose Antonio Lopez, deceased

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 17, 2023

Two men have been arrested for the murder of a vegetable vendor of Valley of Peace, Cayo District, 35-year-old Jose Antonio Lopez, which took place on Wednesday night, April 12.

According to Friday’s issue of the Amandala, around 11:00 p.m. on April 12, Lopez, a father of four, had been socializing in front of a pub on Barbara Harris Street in the Gungulung area of Belize City when three unknown men approached him and a scuffle ensued among the men.

During the altercation, one of the men reportedly fired gunshots that fatally injured Lopez, thereafter stealing his wallet which contained cash and a licensed firearm, and the trio then fled down Barbara Harris Street.

Lopez succumbed to his fatal injuries at around 1:07 a.m. the following morning, at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Over the weekend, police were able to apprehend two men in connection with Lopez’s murder: 23-year-old AC technician, Milton Nuñez, and 21-year-old welder, Emerson Elijio of Belize City.