SAN ESTEVAN VILLAGE, Orange Walk District, Tues. Oct. 19, 2021– Early Tuesday morning, reportedly around 2:00 o’clock, a Trial Farm village resident, Brian Anthony Novelo, lost his life in a hit-and-run accident at the San Estevan Village roundabout.

According to his stepfather, Antonio Melendez, Novelo, who was a maintenance worker at the Northern Regional Hospital, had been socializing with family members at a gathering at their family home, and as late as 8:00 p.m., Novelo had still been drinking. His stepfather told local reporters that at about 9:00 p.m., he warned Novelo that it was getting late and urged him to head home to avoid a run-in with law enforcement due to the national curfew. At that moment, however, there was high police presence in the area, so, Novelo waited until about 11:00 p.m. to attempt his journey home, while evading police detection.

Supposedly, Novelo had made it home safely, but apparently it was a short stay. According to some sources, he changed his pants and embarked on a journey to Palmar Village to meet an acquaintance. It was reportedly on his way there that Novelo, who was traveling on a motorcycle, was involved in a traffic accident that caused severe injuries to his head and body.

When police went to the scene, they found Novelo bleeding profusely at the side of the road — and his red motorcycle nearby with extensive damages. Novelo was transported to Northern Regional Hospital (his place of work), where he was pronounced dead on arrival. At 4:00 the next morning, his stepfather was informed of the incident. As shocked as he was, Melendez visited the morgue and identified the body as that of his stepson, Brian Novelo.

Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the hit-and-run. No suspect has yet been identified. The department is further awaiting the results of a postmortem examination to confirm the cause of Novelo’s death.