SANDHILL, Belize District, Wed. Aug. 14, 2019– At about 5:00 yesterday evening, two robbers went into the home of Ofelia Hernandez Cruz, 69, at a farm in the Salt Creek area of Sandhill, and beat her in the head and body with a hammer.
After bludgeoning the elderly woman with the hammer, the killers then ransacked the house while reportedly searching for Cruz’s husband’s licensed shotgun. It is believed that the killers found the shotgun and they left the house on a scooter, leaving the elderly woman injured and bleeding on the floor of her house.
Cruz, a Mexican national, lived with her husband on the farm, and at the time of the incident, her husband, who is the caretaker for the farm, was not at home.
Residents in the area said that they heard cries for help, and called police. When the police arrived at the isolated farm, however, the woman was in a comatose state. She was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where she was officially declared dead.
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that the house was open when the men went into it and attacked the woman. Williams said they have some men detained and are looking for two more men. Police are not sure that the theft of the shotgun was the only motive for the brutal murder of the elderly woman.
People in the area said that Cruz was friendly and that she and her husband had been living on the farm for about 13 years.