Ladyville police responded to a report of a murder last night on the Maskall Road. Well-known community shop keeper, Ernesto Myvette, 43, was shot to death, and community residents lined the roads around the police yellow barrier tape throughout the crime scene processing.
“Ma, they killed Mr. Myvette; the bad man they kill ah,” said a little boy around the age of 3, prior to his mother hushing him up and taking him away from the active processing crime scene last night.
The police issued a press release today which detailed the events of Myvette’s murder. They say that around 7:30 p.m., Myvette was in his store, Myvette’s Store, behind the counter along with a relative of his. The relative then left the store and walked in the direction of the Northern Highway, when he saw three men walking towards Myvette’s Store.
According to the police, the relative “hurriedly walked back towards the shop, however, before reaching, he heard the sound of gunshots and saw the three men exiting the shop. Upon seeing him, one of them fired a shot at him .”
Myvette was shot a total of four times; twice in the left rib cage area, once in the right side of his chest and the other in the lower left part of his back.
The relative escaped without any injuries. The police said that Myvette’s license 9mm pistol could not be located, and that an undisclosed amount of cash was also stolen from the store.
During our investigations last night, we discovered that the three gunmen had initially parked on the Northern Highway about 100 feet from the junction of the Maskall Road and walked toward the store, which is about 200 feet in from the Northern Highway.
Residents told us that they heard about five gunshots, and that the gunmen, after killing Myvette, ran back toward the Northern Highway and escaped in a vehicle toward Belize City.
The residents were visibly shaken. They say that Myvette was the most thoughtful and kind-hearted man they had known. Myvette had his store open for over two decades, and residents told us that they could not recall him ever being robbed.
The residents explained that Myvette lives behind the store in a home with his son, who is a well-known athlete. A resident told us, “That man worked so hard to take care of his son; he didn’t deserve that”.
Myvette’s body is scheduled to undergo a post-mortem tomorrow.
No arrests have been made as yet.