Jovannie Rashad Jones and Jerwin Ornand Segura, charged
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 23, 2025
Fingers are pointed at a pair of men from Burrell Boom Village, Belize District, as being responsible for the death of a couple from the same village – 37-year-old Felix Martinez, an analyst manager at Belize Bank, and 40-year-old Adelita Gillett, a pharmaceutical manager at Brodies on Regent Street – who were killed and their bodies left abandoned inside a vehicle on the right side of the Philip Goldson Highway on Monday, January 20.
Felix Martinez and Adelita Gillett, deceased
It was a passerby who made the gruesome discovery of the bodies inside a Chevrolet Equinox SUV a little after 4:30 p.m. near Mile 31 of the highway, between the Crooked Tree Junction and Biscayne Village. The passerby noticed the vehicle parked on the side of the road and decided to take a closer look. He then observed four bullet holes in the driver’s side window, which prompted him to call the police.
When officers arrived at the scene about an hour later, they saw the front passenger side glass window of the vehicle was down and there were two motionless persons inside. Martinez, who was slouched over on the driver side and had apparent gunshot wounds to the body, was dressed in a grey, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black long pants and black shoes. Police say Gillett, in a black dress and white sweater, was seated in the front passenger side and she also had apparent gunshot wounds to the body. Several expended shells were recovered nearby.
After reports began to spread of the discovery of the two dead persons, talk began to surface of a murder/suicide; however, the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams later refuted those claims on social media, declaring the two persons’ death as a double murder.
He also confirmed that two persons had been detained in connection with the shooting, and they were later identified as 29-year-old Jovannie Jones, a car dealer, and 23-year-old Jerwin Segura, a driver. The couple had reportedly given Jones $35,000 to produce a car from the US in October, last year. However, Jones had failed to deliver the vehicle after being paid, which reportedly prompted the couple to ask for a refund. They went to the location believing they were to receive a partial refund, but ultimately being lured to their death where their bodies were found.
Jones was detained on Monday, January 20, 2025, at about 10:50 p.m., and informed of the reason for his detention being pending investigation for murder. Further investigation by police led them to Segura, who told police that he was with Jones, and that they went together in a red Four Runner SUV vehicle to meet a person by the name of Felix somewhere in the vicinity of the Crooked Tree junction. Segura was detained and informed of the reason for his detention as pending investigation for murder.
In their investigation police viewed video footage which showed a red Four Runner vehicle parked behind Felix Martinez’s black Chevy Equinox, where several shots were seen on the driver’s glass before Segura drove off in the red Four Runner vehicle. Police also recorded witness statements and conducted interviews of Jones and Segura where both admitted to going in the vicinity of Crooked Tree junction to meet with Felix Martinez and Adelita Gillett in a red Four-Runner vehicle, but denied killing them.
On Thursday, January 23, the accused were brought under heavy police escort all the way from the Ladyville Police Station to court, where they were both unrepresented when they appeared before the Chief Magistrate, Jayani Wegodapola in Court #1 at around 10:00 a.m.
Inside the courtroom, the Chief Magistrate read two counts of murder and explained to the men that due to the nature of the offenses, bail was denied, and they were remanded into custody at the Belize Central Prison until March 25, 2025.
Martinez was a recent graduate of Galen University, from which he received a Bachelor’s degree, and was described by his former basketball coach at Galen, Bernie Tarr, as a multi-talented student athlete.
“He played basketball, volleyball, [and performed in] track and field for us; he participated in everything,” Tarr said. “We’re all numb right now over what happened. I would call him your perfect, exemplary role model of a student athlete. Whenever he’s called upon as an athlete, he was there to participate in volleyball, basketball – that was his number one sport – but he played everything, and he did it to the best of his abilities. In the classroom, he maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA [and], he was looked up to by the younger athletes,” Tarr further mentioned.
Besides being an exemplary student-athlete, Martinez was also a family man.
“Every game you saw, you would see his wife and son right there with him, and that’s why he was a role model for young male athletes; he was perfect. I always remember his son, always wanted to be like him, but he’s going to win more medals than his dad,” Tarr emotionally said.
Gillett began working at James Brodies Ltd. some 20 years ago, and her death has deeply affected and impacted her working family. At her workplace at the Brodies building at the corner of Regent Street and Treasury Lane there is a big black bow, and one is inside the Pharmacy where she worked as a Pharmaceutical Manager.
The couple left behind a 10-year-old son.