_{Photo: Aurelio Montero, deceased}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Tues. July 30, 2024

Three men who were accused of murdering a Coast Guard officer, 23-year-old Aurelio Montero, Jr. of Bullet Tree Village, in 2015, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on Monday, July 29.

An encounter between Montero and the three men took place at the Welcome Center in downtown San Ignacio Town, Cayo District, on Good Friday of that year when Montero appeared to have passed out on the ground near the center and was later approached by three individuals – Windel Obando, Saul Ortiz, and Hamed Awe – all from the Kontiki area in San Ignacio.

It was alleged that the trio took Montero behind a building and proceeded to beat him and rob him of his wallet and shoes without any resistance from him. He was left for dead. After the vicious beatdown, Montero, who remained unconscious, was picked up by police and taken for medical care, but he died a few days later.

It is believed that his death was a result of the injuries he sustained in the beat-down by the trio.

After spending close to a decade behind bars at the Belize Central Prison, the trio appeared in court and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter after their initial charge of murder was downgraded.

They were released (ostensibly due to “time served” on remand), but ordered by the court to each compensate the family of the deceased with $5,000 by January 2025.