Barney Cunningham, Jr., 20, died of injuries sustained in a Friday night incident in the Port Loyola area on Tuesday morning, at the Belize Medical Associates Hospital on St. Thomas Street in Belize City.
Chronologically, Cunningham is 2009’s first murder victim, having been shot 23 hours before Belizario Eck, Jr., 27, in San Ignacio, although Eck was the first to succumb to his injuries.
Cunningham and seven other men, including his father, Bernard, 54, were assisting homeowner and construction worker Edmond Castillo, 42, with moving his household from #29 Baracat Street to #8731 Curl Thompson Street in Port Loyola last Friday night, January 2. Castillo works for Cunningham’s company, Cunningham and Associates Engineering.
Around 9:00 p.m., the task had been nearly completed when a single gunman approached the group from Man of War Street, which intersects with Curl Thompson near Castillo’s residence, and opened fire, injuring Castillo, Cunningham Jr., Enrique Alvarez and Glenford Myvett.
Castillo, Alvarez and Myvett were all treated and released from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but Cunningham Jr. was on life support since his arrival at Medical Associates.
Police announced late today that Marlon Foreman, a laborer of #4314 Louise Bevans Street, has been arrested and charged for the incident, though specifics are not yet forthcoming.