_{Kyle Aswan Zetina, sentenced}

BELIZE CITY, Fri. July 4, 2025

Kyle Aswan Zetina, 30, was one of two young men who at the age of 24 back in 2019 along with a co-accomplice, Shawn Flores, were charged jointly with the triple murder of vice principal/teacher, Alarice Andrewin and her two friends, Vidal Antonio Yuman, 39, and Maria Lucas, 19, a Guatemalan national, which occurred inside her home at Mile 10 ½ on the George Price Highway on June 3, 2019.

On June 3, 2019, Zetina and his co-accomplice sat outside waiting in the bushes for Andrewin to arrive home.

When she came home with two others, Yuman and Lucas, the men invaded her house, which they searched, then they took three of the victims into a bedroom, bound them, and shot them.

Yuman and Lucas were each shot once in the head, but Andrewin was shot twice in the head.

Zetina and his accomplice then escaped in Andrewin’s Rogue vehicle, which was parked in her yard, and they also took her cellphone.

Documents for her vehicle were found burnt, and her keys had been given to another man, who sold her vehicle.

A co-worker of Andrewin from Excelsior High School said that the last time she heard from Andrewin was the day before at 3:40 p.m.; so, she notified the police, who went to Andrewin ‘s house, and that’s when police made the gruesome discovery of three bodies.

All three bodies were bound together with orange electrical cord.

That was six years ago, and today, after 2 hours of hearing mitigation pleas that consisted of testimonials about the good character of the convict, Zetina, in the High Court, Justice Candace Nanton handed down three life sentences against Zetina, with the possibility of parole only after he has served 37 years in prison for the triple murder.

Zetina, who was represented in the murder trial by attorney Norman Rodriguez and insisted that he was innocent, was found guilty of murder in February of this year.

That’s when Justice Nanton had found his co-accused, Shawn Flores, not guilty due to no evidence linking him to the murder at the conclusion of a voir dire.

Justice Nanton explained that, in determining the sentence, she took into consideration Zetina’s history; his Social Inquiry Report; his prison report; his psychiatric evaluation report; the impact statement of those affected by the murder; his character witnesses’ testimonies; a joint letter from the Westby family on Zetina’s character; Zetina’s last words to the court, which were not words of remorse, as noted by the judge, but rather, an expression of sympathy to the deceaseds’ family; and his attorney’s plea for him.

In the end, before she handed down her 3 life sentences, Justice Nanton also took into consideration the legal framework which outlines the sentencing regime set out by the court—which allows only two possible sentences for murder: death row or life imprisonment.

Justice Nanton noted that the death penalty is only for cases of the worst of the worst, or where there are no reasonable prospects of reform for the convict.

She also noted that the sentencing trend in Belize for murder has been a life sentence with a minimum term of 25-37 years before a person is eligible for parole; she also stated that she did not believe that Zetina deserved the death penalty sentence, although the murder was horrendous. She looked at all his good character witnesses, but nonetheless felt that the starting point for his sentence had to be above the sentencing range, and she looked at the case of Jared Ranguy, who had been sentenced to 3 life sentences by Justice Pilgrim after the judge considered the public interest and the aggravating factors.

According to the judge, among the factors which increased the severity of the sentence were the fact that multiple persons were killed, and that one of those victims was a teacher who was killed in her home. A violation of that space is to be met with serious consequences, the judge said. She also pointed to indications of premeditation, including the fact that there was evidence of Zetina scouting out the teacher’s house the day before the murder, and she noted the level of violence—particularly the fact that Zetina after robbing the victims, shot each one of them, then escaped in Andrewin’s vehicle. Justice Nanton added that the court had just sent a strong message that firearm murder will result in serious consequences, and she pointed out that a shot in the head is a barbarous act that shows clearly the intention to kill. She also highlighted Zetina’s intent to sell Teacher Andrewin’s vehicle, since he traveled out of the country.

Justice Nanton noted, however, that she had taken into consideration that Zetina, who turns 31 tomorrow, had cooperated with the police upon his arrest; he gave the police samples of his bodily fluids, which included a swab which placed him at the murder scene; and he helped the police to recover Andrewin’s stolen vehicle.

Other mitigating factors included Zetina’s support of his family and that his mother and his stepfather spoke well of him and expressed shock at his act of violence, which contrasted with the gentle person they knew him to be. Justice Nanton observed, however, that it seems that Zetina, who in his last words to the Court expressed sympathy to the victims’ families but continued to declare his innocence, could be rehabilitated.

In those last words, he said, “I am 30 now; I will be 31 tomorrow. What I am about to say is not about my character. I was hoping to see someone from the deceaseds’ family, but I am sorry for the death of the family; but I cannot say I am sorry about doing it, because I didn’t do it. I respect the court decision. Everyone did their job, but the story isn’t all the time how it seems. I asked the court to consider the situation.”

Zetina’s record showed that he had one conviction for handling stolen goods from back in September 2011 at the tender age of 17; and although it was not for any violent act, Justice Nanton viewed it as a criminal act of dishonesty and she also viewed the conviction as an aggravating factor.

Kyle Zetina also committed 2 infractions while in prison; and while they were not for violent acts, they were: a conviction for drugs (marijuana which he had smuggled into prison) and a prohibited item and another for testing positive for marijuana.

During the trial, Zetina chose to remain silent and said nothing in his defense.