by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 12, 2023
In a recent court ruling, 33-year-old Jorge Galindo of Santa Elena Town was found guilty of the 2019 murder of 35-year-old Nelson Flores.
On August 25, 2019, Nelson Flores was at home on George Price Avenue in the Trapiche area of Santa Elena, enjoying a quiet evening with his family, when around 9:00 p.m., an assailant, masked with a helmet and ski mask, stormed in. The assailant, believed to be Galindo, fired multiple rounds, striking Flores. Flores’s 12-year-old daughter was also targeted and hit as she tried to escape.
Flores sustained gunshot wounds to his head and shoulders, and he ultimately succumbed to his injuries at Western Regional Hospital. His daughter, who was shot in the chest, survived the traumatic event.
Within 48 hours of the incident, the police apprehended and charged Galindo with the murder of Flores and aggravated assault on Flores’ wife and daughter.
The Flores family cast doubts on the police’s investigation, however. Flores’ younger brother, Norwin Lennon, recalled witnessing the shooter’s escape. According to him, Galindo did not fit the description. He also suggested that the police might have hastily pinned the crime on Galindo due to his prior run-ins with the law.
Nevertheless, on October 11, 2023, the case culminated with Jorge Galindo standing before Justice Francis Cumberbatch in Belmopan. While found guilty of murdering Flores, the assault charges were dismissed. Galindo is set to return to court in December for his sentencing, marking the latest chapter in a series of events that have shaken the San Ignacio/Santa Elena community.
In a turn of events, on August 26, 2019, the day after Flores’ tragic death, Galindo’s residence on Perez Street became the scene of another shooting. Among the three present during this attack, 18-year-old Arden Quiroz suffered an injury to his arm.
Speculations arose among Twin Towns residents, linking the two incidents and suggesting that the attack on Quiroz might have been retaliation for Flores’ death.
The narrative took a darker turn when, less than a month later, Galindo’s mother, Mirna Young, aged 58, was fatally shot and killed in her home. The identified assailant, 28-year-old Jahnon Trapp of Esperanza, reportedly pursued her son and his friend into her house, subsequently turning his firearm on Young and her 8-year-old granddaughter and firing multiple shots, killing her immediately. Young was shot to the chest and the bullet exited through her side and hit the wall behind her.
Jorge Galindo and his brothers, Minor Galindo and David Galindo, known as the “Galindo brothers,” have compiled a record for themselves in the Santa Elena and San Ignacio community with involvements ranging from drug possession, aggravated assault, and alleged involvement in murders.
In a particularly gruesome incident in July 2020, Minor and David were charged in connection with the killings of Windell Trapp and Samuel Hill in downtown San Ignacio, an event believed to be retaliation for their mother’s murder.