BELIZE CITY, Sun. Aug. 22, 2021– In the wee hours of Saturday morning, while most people were still sleeping, a grisly tragedy was unfolding behind the walls of a home on 4th Street in the King’s Park area: one murder, and then another, and then an apparent suicide. Police entered upon the crime scene in the living room of the home after sunrise that morning, and would find that one of their own, a woman police officer, was one of the victims of an act of double murder and suicide.

The victims have since been identified as a 37-year-old woman police officer (WPC #1554), Arilee Young, whose lifeless body was found on the floor, and 17-year-old Shania Cardenes, whose body was lying on the sofa. There were apparent gunshot wounds on both women’s bodies, which were reportedly inflicted on them by a third individual — a man, whose lifeless body was also found in the living room of the home at #15 4th Street.

That man, who is believed to be the trigger man, was identified as the WPC’s boyfriend, 26-year-old Glenford Perriott, who was reportedly found in a seated position in a chair, with a single gunshot wound to the head, and with one of his hands still clasping what is assumed to be the murder weapon in a death grip.

Police reportedly had to force their way into the house on 4th Street, which seems to indicate that an effort was made to prevent entry or exit — a sign that the crime was orchestrated with some thought. Police have confirmed that Perriott, who was reportedly a security guard, accessed the firearm at his workplace.

Reports are that police arrived in the general area after the sound of shots were heard, but they could not pinpoint exactly where the shots were fired, as a result they left the area until they received a report from a person who reportedly looked through a window in the home on 4th Street that morning. The bodies were not found until around 7:00 a.m. that morning.

Following the discovery of the bodies, the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, posted the following comments on social media.

“Yesterday was truly a sad day for our Police Department, it was a day that will always remind us of the reality that as police officers many of us are going through domestic situations and are afraid to speak out. The loss of Police Constable Arilee Young is a vivid example of this reality. As a people there is a need for us to do more to stem our communities from the scourge of domestic violence and abuse. We can no longer sit and see our women and children dying or being hurt at the hands of those who are supposed to love and protect them,” he said.

Commissioner Williams said that we need a more enabling environment for the reporting of cases of domestic violence and that members of the community need to understand the importance of reporting such incidents and how it can save lives.

It has not yet been confirmed what motivated Perriott to commit such a horrific act, although some reports are indicating that all was not well in his and Young’s relationship. All indications so far are that it was a crime of passion.