by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 1, 2022 On Friday, July 29, Keon Dennison, 24, was sentenced by Supreme Court justice Ricardo O’ Neil Sandcroft to life in prison for murdering 47-year- old businessman, Ruben Perez in

2015.
A 2015 AMANDALA article

reported that the incident, which took place in November of that year, was captured on surveillance camera footage. In the footage, Dennison and Tyrone Reid, a Belmopan resident, were seen entering the premises of Perez’s business, Perez Hardware Store, at the corner of Vernon Street and Western Avenue.

At that point, the footage shows Perez getting up from behind his desk, where he had been sitting, with his phone in his hand. He walked towards the entrance of his business, where

Reid and Dennison, who were seen entering the establishment, began a struggle with him.

During that struggle, Perez was shot twice – once in the abdomen and once in the head. After he was shot, his assailants fled the scene on bicycles, but they returned and stole Perez’s cellphone, after which they headed in the direction of Lord Ridge Cemetery, on the George Price Highway.

Dennison had been on remand at the Belize Central Prison since his detainment five years ago, and in May of this year, he was tried by a judge without a jury and was found guilty of the crime. On Friday, Dennison was given a life sentence by Justice Sandcroft and will serve 20 more years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Crown Counsel Riis Cattouse prosecuted the case against him.

His accomplice, Reid, who had pleaded guilty to the crime, was also given a life sentence without the possibility of parole until after serving a total of 25 years (including his time on remand) in prison.
Dennison and Reid were 18 and 19

respectively when they murdered Perez.