_{Photo: Julia Moran, deceased}

by Roy Davis (freelance writer)

PUNTA GORDA, Toledo District, Tues. May 28, 2024

In the High Court of the southern district of Toledo, Jorge Leon, 55, charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Julia Moran, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter when he appeared today before Justice Antoinette Moore. Leon was sentenced to fourteen years in prison.

The facts of the case are that on August 7, 2020, Moran was reported missing by her sister, Irma Milian. Later that same day, Independence police detained Leon at Belizean Dreams Resort, located in Hopkins.

Leon was taken to Santa Cruz Police Station where he consented to an interview that was conducted in the presence of a Justice of the Peace. When asked where Julia Moran was, Leon said he had buried her at a farm in Steadfast Village.

He took the police to the farm where he buried Moran in a shallow grave.

He told police that on July 30, 2020, while he and Moran were at the farm, Moran approached him, armed with a piece of stick, and threatened to kill him. He said Moran struck him on his leg with the stick and he managed to take away the stick and he beat Moran on her head with it, killing her in the process. He then buried her, he said.

A post mortem examination conducted by Dr. Mario Estradabran revealed that Moran died from asphyxia caused by a blunt instrument.

In May, 2024, Leon indicated to his attorney, Hurl Hamilton, that he wanted to plead to manslaughter; and the Crown, represented by Senior Crown Counsel Javier Chan, accepted.