BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 30, 2020– Delbert Alvarez, 24, a laborer of Lake Independence who had recently moved to the area to live with his girlfriend, was killed on Tuesday night.
At about 8:00 that night, Alvarez rode a bicycle to a house to buy some cannabis, after which he went to a house on Cumberbatch Street and was relaxing on the verandah.
Police said that while Alvarez was on the verandah, a man came into the yard, which is about 15 to 20 feet from the roadside, and fired several times at him, and the shooter then escaped out of the yard and disappeared into the surrounding area.
Alvarez was shot in the head, chest and abdomen, and died almost immediately on the verandah.
In an emotional interview with us this afternoon, his sister, Lunnette Garnett, who was visibly devastated, said that Alvarez was not a gang affiliate or a violent person, and was not known in the area, because he had just moved there to be with his girlfriend.
Alvarez, she said, was originally from Majestic Alley, and his favorite color was blue. She said that he would usually go home in a taxi, but on Tuesday night, he rode a bicycle to go to purchase marijuana — something he does not usually do. He was just in the wrong place, and she believes that the gunman shot him because he was a stranger.
Many believe that Alvarez was shot in retaliation for the death of Ronald Michael, who was shot at about 10:00 Monday morning while cleaning a yard on Ordonez Street. We asked Garnett whether she had heard about this speculation and her reaction was that he probably was killed in retaliation, but her brother had nothing to do with Michael’s death.
She said that Alvarez was their only brother and their mother’s only son, and the family is crushed.
Presently, they have no money to bury him, and are seeking public assistance. Members of the public who wish to help the devastated family can contact them at 652-4380.
Police, for their part, said that they do not yet know the motive for the murder.
In speaking of her brother, Garnett said that Alvarez was a top performer in trade school, and was a barber, and that he was loving and kind, and when he worked, he gave their mother most of his money.
She said that her brother would take her son to games and treated him well, and now, her son is without his uncle. She said that she wants the killer to come to talk to her, and tell her why he killed her brother.
Alvarez’s murder occurred just a little over two days after the death of Ronald Anthony Michael, Jr., 28, of Giles Street in the Lake Independence area, who was killed when an assassin sneaked up on him and shot him in the head while he was cutting the grass in a yard at about 10:00 Monday morning on Ordonez Street, in Lake Independence,.
Police believe that Michael’s murder was due to ongoing gang rivalries and retaliation in the area.
Feature photo: Delbert Alvarez