BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 29, 2019– Jayear Flores, 20, stood at the entrance to the cell block at the Magistrate’s Court this afternoon with a worried look on his face. He had just been acquitted of double murder and he and members of his family feared reprisals from members of the family of the deceased. Flores was put into a taxi that drove him away, presumably to safety.

Flores was freed of charges for the murders of 22-year-old Porshan Pipersburgh and his 7-year-old cousin, Tyler Savery, who were gunned down on November 11, 2016, on Daly Street. Pipersburgh was riding a bicycle with Tyler on the handle. He was taking Tyler to buy him a milkshake at Moon Clusters Café, and they were a few feet from the entrance to the cafe when a white car drove up and one of the occupants opened fire. Savery died instantly from a gunshot to his chest. Pipersburgh was shot twice in his chest. He succumbed to his injuries 24 hours later.

At Flores’ trial which began this morning before Justice Colin Williams, one witness, Cedrick Usher, who was the only eyewitness, testified. Usher said that he was driving on Freetown Road and when he slowed down in traffic three persons got into the back of his vehicle. He said one of the men put a firearm to his side and forced him to take them to his father’s house at Mile 8 on George Price Highway. Usher said that when they arrived at his father’s house the men were reluctant to go inside because there were some people nearby. He said he and a friend who was with him went into the house and the men followed and they ransacked the house, searching, they said, for a gun that they did not find. Usher said the men then took his vehicle and they drove it to Belize City, where they allegedly used it to commit the murders.

Usher identified Flores in the dock as one of the persons involved in the murders but Justice Williams did not accept the dock identification because Usher did not give a detailed description of Flores in the statement he gave to the police. Usher had also identified Flores in a group identification parade, but Justice Williams also refused to accept the results of the group identification parade. Having no other eyewitness, the Crown’s case fell apart and Crown Counsel Portia Ferguson closed the case for the Crown. With that, Flores’s attorney, Yohhanseh Cave, submitted that Flores had no case to answer to, and Justice Williams upheld the submission and acquitted Flores.