BELIZE CITY, Mon. June 13, 2016–The unrelenting wave of crime hitting Belize City claimed the life of Marlon Anthony Bonner, 34, of Central American Boulevard, Belize City, on Sunday afternoon, on the same Fabers Road basketball court where angry city residents mauled the concrete fence, back in December 2007, as they grieved the senseless murder of Faron Felix, 16, one of several brothers who fell victim to gun violence.
Whereas Felix’s shooter hid behind the fence under the cover of night to perpetrate his attack, Bonner’s attacker shot him openly in broad daylight.
At city’s crime hotspot, Marlon Anthony Bonner, 34, shot dead Sunday afternoon
Reports to our newspaper are that a gunman opened fire on Bonner, hitting him several times in his face, head and body. He died on the spot and the gunman fled the scene.
Police reported that at about 4:00 yesterday evening, Bonner was playing basketball with others at the basketball court located at the corner of Fabers Road and Central American Boulevard, when an unmasked gunman walked up to Banner on the basketball court and fired about 7 shots at him.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, Commander of Eastern Division, Southside Belize City, said that police went to the scene of the shooting and on their arrival, they saw Bonner with gunshot wounds to his head, chest and body. He was already dead when the police arrived.
Bonner was then taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where his body was placed in the morgue, pending a post-mortem to certify the cause of death.
During a press brief held today at the Racoon Street Police Station in Belize City, Williams said that Bonner was not known to be a gang member, and so he does not believe that the murder was gang-related.
Williams said that the police know who shot Bonner, but the suspect, who is a gang affiliate, remains at large.
The difficulty, said Williams, is that the witnesses who saw what happened are fearful and don’t want to give statements to the police.
Williams said that they will continue their investigations, and they will do what they can to arrest and charge the killer and seek to have him convicted when they capture him.
He still urges those who saw what happened to come forward to give their statements to police.