Shevaughn Gotoy, remanded
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Feb. 5, 2025
Following Friday night’s deadly shooting at a football game at the Marion Jones Sports Complex that left one dead and 3 injured, the alleged shooter, Shevaughn Gotoy, surrendered himself and his licensed firearm to police. Police have not so far charged Gotoy for the murder of gang leader, Brandon Augustus Baptist, who was fatally wounded during the shooting, but 8 other charges have been brought against him, including attempted murder of the 3 surviving victims of the attack.
Brandon Baptist, deceased
Today, at around 10:50 a.m., police escorted Shevaughn Anthony Gotoy. 29, a Belize Western Energy Ltd. supervisor who resides at #8 Hibiscus Street, Belize City, to the Belize City Magistrate’s Court under special escort and not in the police van. At around 11:39 a.m., Gotoy, in the presence of his attorney, Orson “OJ” Elrington, was taken into Court #2, where he appeared before a Senior Magistrate and was read eight criminal offenses.
The Senior Magistrate explained to Gotoy that due to the nature of the offenses, which are indictable, no plea would be taken from him, and she would only ensure that he understood the charges. She also explained to him that due to the nature of the offenses, she could not grant him bail until after three months have passed, and that if he wanted bail at this time he would need to have his attorney apply at the High Court. Gotoy was read eight counts: 2 counts of attempted murder upon John Grinage and Gerson Mena; two counts of dangerous harm upon Grinage and Mena; 3 counts of use of deadly means of harm upon Grinage, Mena and Kameron Williams; and one count of wounding upon Williams, for the shooting of the men on Friday, January 31, 2025 at the Marion Jones Sports Complex.
At 11:52, Gotoy’s arraignment concluded; however, due to the nature of the offenses, bail was denied and he was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until April 8, 2025. Attorney Elrington is in the process of applying for bail for Gotoy at the High Court.
As previously mentioned, the shooting incident for which Gotoy was charged, occurred on Friday night, January 31. At about 9:15 p.m. that Friday, acting upon reports they received of shots fired at the Marion Jones Sports Complex in Belize City, police officers attached to Northside CIVB went to the stadium, where they were informed that several persons had been wounded and were transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. When they visited the KHMH Accident & Emergency Section, they saw John Grinage, 37, and Kameron Williams, 21, and Gerson Mena, 26, a resident of # 96 Ordonez Avenue, suffering from gunshot injuries. The other victim of the shooting, Brandon Augustus Baptist, 39, had been pronounced dead on arrival by doctors at the KHMH at 9:35 p.m.
After carrying out an initial investigation, the officers learned that the men had been watching a football game at the Marion Jones Sports Complex when an argument started among a group of men, and shortly after that, a number of shots were fired which wounded several men.
During the investigation, statements were recorded and video footage of the shooting incident was retrieved by police. Based on the statements recorded, it was learnt that the suspect was Shevaughn Anthony Gotoy, and on Sunday, February 2, 2025, Gotoy, turned himself in at the Queen Street Police Station along with his attorney, Ronell Gonzalez, and also handed over his licensed firearm, which was sealed in his presence and was sent to the National Forensic Laboratory for analysis.
Police say that while in custody, Gotoy was interviewed in the presence of his attorney and a JP, and during that interview he admitted that he fired shots at Brandon Baptist in self-defense, which led police to bring several charges against him; however, no charges for the shooting death of Brandon were levied against him.