BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 28, 2022– The dead man whose body was found with gunshot wounds in the water behind the Port of Belize by a local fisherman has been identified as Jose Guzman, 25, a mentally ill man.
On Wednesday, February 23, police responded to a report that the body of an unidentified man, which was in an initial stage of decomposition, had been found partially submerged in the sea in a bushy area near the shore behind the Port of Belize compound in Belize City just before noon.
Upon arriving at the scene, police found a body on which there were apparent gunshot wounds. The dead man was reportedly wearing a dark green, sleeveless shirt and grey pants, with a grey sweater around his neck.
At the time, the only distinguishing feature of the remains by which police could try to identify the deceased man was a tattoo of the name “DESIREE” on the deceased man’s arm. However, that proved to be sufficient to alert a relative of the dead man. He was later identified as 25-year-old Jose Pedro Guzman, or ‘Joey’ as his family called him, by his cousin, who recognized him when she saw an online media report that made reference to the tattoo.
Carmita Leslie, the cousin of Guzman, told us her initial reaction when she realized her cousin was the “‘John Doe” that police had been trying to identify.
“I was at work, and then went on my Facebook. I saw that they wanted someone to come identify a John Doe. So I just scrolled down on the picture, and that was when I saw his tattoo, because I know his tattoo very well. I see Joey every day, because he comes and eat at our restaurant. When I saw his tattoo, I called his sister and told her to come down to Belize and so we can try identify his body, because I know that’s his tattoo.” Leslie said.
According to Leslie, Guzman’s mental challenges started when he was living with his aunt in Roaring Creek five years prior and went swimming with a group of young men.
“One of my aunts that live in Roaring Creek, where he used to stay with, she said that one day Joey went to the river with some boys and when he came back he was not the same. I guess they probably gave him something to drink, or something to smoke, and that was what did that to him. He started walking the highway first, and then after that, he started to come to the streets in Belize City. Because of his mental illness, we couldn’t get him to stay off the street, and since Belize doesn’t have an institution that can take them, and it’s very hard to deal with those types of people,” Leslie explained.
“He would normally come on the canal side by the bus terminal where our restaurant is by the East Collet Canal right across from the Michael Finnegan Market. He could be seen in that area, or he goes out by BTL Park; he goes by the call center because everyone from the call center saying that they know Joey from out there. And whenever, we would go buy ice cream in the night, he’s right out there. I don’t know what he was doing in the Port area. I know he has some family that lives in that area, so I don’t know if he took his walk in that area too. I’m not sure,” said Leslie.
Leslie told us that her cousin is not the type of person to hurt or wrong anyone and she does not believe that he did anything that could have provoked such an act of violence against him.
In regard to what could have led someone to fatally shoot her cousin, she said, “I think it was an act of idleness, because all the killings that are happening, and Joey just became a victim of circumstances. But that was idleness, because Joey was not a thief. He didn’t even take crack or anything like that. Joey smoke cigarette. He would ask for a shilling to buy a cigarette to smoke. He never comes here with anything trying to sell us anything. All Joey has is his cape, because all say that he’s a guardian angel, and every day he comes here, he comes for his breakfast in the morning and for his lunch in the afternoon and he goes again. I think they bullied him out of his life senselessly. I know for a fact, Joey did not do anything to anyone.”
Regardless of Guzman’s condition, Leslie stated that she will always remember her cousin as happy and always smiling, and she said she has numerous memories of him at her establishment.
“I will always remember Joey as a jovial, happy despite his condition, despite the way he was, always smiling, always laughing. I have so much videos of him in the morning time, when he comes, I’m always videoing him; I’m always clowning him, talking to him and he gives me all kind of stories. I always listen and laugh. He never come upstart, cursing, violent, always a jovial person. Even in his condition, he was a jovial person.”
Leslie shared a few words of encouragement for families with loved ones suffering from mental illness: “It’s a very hard thing to deal with; it is very hard to see our loved ones like that. So most people would just shun their family members away. But I don’t think those people should be shunned. I think those people should be loved and treated [well]. You just have to try and work with them. Maybe you can’t take them in, because they want to be out there. Just show them love, show them that you care. Just don’t shun them away. I wish there was an institution where you can put them and they get their medication,” she said.