The life of a Benque Viejo del Carmen teen was abruptly and mercilessly cut short near Belize’s western border, in the sight of his helpless parents on Saturday, November 19, by two masked assailants on what was supposed to be a festive Garifuna Settlement Day.
The incident reportedly happened at around 7:35 p.m. on Saturday. The victim, Esvin Ernesto Reyes, a laborer, 16; his father, Estevan Reyes, and mother, Teresa Reyes, were walking together about 150 yards from the Belize-Guatemala border when two armed, masked assailants dressed in black held the family of three at gunpoint and demanded money.
According to a police press release which reported the murder, “Estevan replied that he did not have money. One of the assailants responded, ‘Whether you have money or not you will die.’”
Estevan tried to protect his family and told Teresa and Esvin to run, but this is when one of the assailants, armed with a 9mm pistol, fired a single fatal shot that pierced through Esvin’s mid-back.
The assailants then fled the area.
Esvin was taken to the San Ignacio Hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead.
The savage and senseless murder has shaken the community of Benque.
While police say they are investigating the incident, the area residents believe that the assailants came from Guatemala.
When Esvin was killed, the family was heading to Melchor – a municipality in the Peten department of Guatemala, with a population of about 23,000 residents, situated just west of Benque.
Teresa Reyes has recounted that they were on their way to visit one of their daughters living in Melchor, but as they approached the river, Teresa said, the assailants came from among the bushes and asked them for money.
When the family could not give the assailants what they wanted, one of them fired in Esvin’s direction, as he was walking away from the assailants.
Esvin reportedly fell to the ground and Estevan ran for help. The brazen assailants were advancing toward the family but when they heard the sound of the sirens, they jumped into the river and escaped to Melchor.
Amandala sources say that the Reyes’s are a Guatemalan family living in Belize, and they lived on the Old Border Road, Benque.