by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Tues. June 25, 2024
Despite the video, which went viral, of an interview with a murder witness, 26-year-old Maia James, a Belizean living in the US, the accused murderer, 31-year-old Ellis Meighan of Belize City has yet to be tried in court for the crime he allegedly committed in April of this year.
Meighan is accused of murdering a friend of James, 32-year-old Roy Lee Burgess, which is said to have been a contract killing orchestrated by an older Caucasian woman, the ex-girlfriend of Burgess, who reportedly got upset with him for ending his relationship with her and began to threaten his life, which James later confirmed.
During the interview, James told US media houses that she, Burgess, and Meighan were traveling together in a car on the Placencia Road near Mile 22, and that when Meighan was about to exit the vehicle, he fired shots at Burgess, killing him instantly, and also fired shots at James, which injured her.
She additionally recounted that Meighan managed to get away by hopping inside an approaching vehicle, and she managed to save herself by exiting the vehicle in which they had been traveling and hiding in some nearby bushes, where she almost passed away.
Since then, Meighan has been on the run from authorities in Belize; and earlier this month, he was detained by US authorities for illegal entry. However, Meighan is reportedly claiming asylum in the US, thus making his process of being deported a difficult one.
“We have submitted every required documentation to our counterparts in the US, including the wanted poster, the arrest warrant, and some other documents. They have acknowledged receiving those documents; so, I believe they are going through the asylum process because he is claiming asylum. Once that is rejected, then he should return to Belize, and once he returns to Belize we have everything prepared for him to be charged [with] murder,” said Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams.
Meighan is reportedly locked up at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California.