His partner pleaded guilty to manslaughter
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 24, 2018– The scandalous details of a case of a murder resulting from a homosexual’s request for sex and his partner’s inability to meet his demands unfolded today in the court of Justice Adolph Lucas when Dwayne Davis, 37, charged with the murder of Dr. Ivan Garcia, 52, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
It was a trial in which Justice Lucas was judge of the law, and of the facts. He deferred sentencing until June 14 in order to hear a plea for mitigation and in order for the court to receive a social inquiry from the Community Rehabilitation Department and a report from the Belize Central Prison.
Dr. Garcia, a naturalized Belizean originally from Guatemala, who worked at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, was found dead in his apartment, located on Guava Street in Belama Phase 1, around 7 a.m. on June 18, 2012. He was clad in only boxer shorts and was bleeding from the head.
An autopsy performed later the same day by Dr. Mario Estrada Bran, certified that he died from manual strangulation and an injury to his head. The following day, June 19, at around 6:30 p.m., Davis, reportedly a former maintenance worker for a tour company on San Pedro. gave a statement under caution to police in which he confessed to killing Dr. Garcia.
A voire dire was held to determine the admissibility of the statement and at the end of it on Tuesday, May 22, Justice Lucas ruled that it was admissible.
The facts of the case, which were presented in court, revealed that on June 17, 2012, Davis and Dr. Garcia were drinking at the house of another doctor in Kings Park. They left the house in Dr. Garcia’s car and went to his apartment, where they continued to drink.
The two became involved in cuddling, heavy petting and foreplay, which led to Dr. Garcia wanting to have sex with Davis, in which he, Dr. Garcia, wanted to play the role of the recipient.
Davis, however, was not able to have an erection and they both fell asleep.
The next day, June 18, when they awoke, Dr. Garcia resumed his quest to have sex, but Davis declined and told Dr. Garcia that he wanted to go home.
Davis said in his caution statement that Dr. Garcia insisted on having sex and became annoying.
Davis said he put his arms around Dr. Garcia in a “sleeper hold” and put him to sleep. He said that he then began to search for the key to the apartment, but he could not find it.
Davis said that when he went back to the bedroom, he saw that Dr. Garcia was awake and he tied up Dr. Garcia, but Dr. Garcia began to struggle and was able to free himself.
Davis said that he tried to put Dr. Garcia to sleep again, but was unable to put his arms around his neck.
He then put a pillow over Dr. Garcia’s face and when Dr. Garcia began to struggle, he struck him over the head with a can of beets that was nearby, and that was when he ceased to move.
Davis concluded in his statement that he did not intend to hurt the doctor.
Apart from the confession statement, the Crown, represented by Crown counsel Portia Ferguson, had in their possession Davis’ fingerprints, which had been lifted from a drinking glass that was found in Dr. Garcia’s apartment.
The Crown also had evidence of Davis’ DNA profile that was found in fingernail clippings from the right hand of Dr. Garcia. The DNA analysis was done by Dr. Compton Beecher, the chief analyst at Carigen in Jamaica.
The police reported that they found Davis with a laptop and a camera that belonged to Dr. Garcia.
Davis was represented by attorney Bryan Neal.