by Roy Davis (freelance reporter)
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 29, 2023
A sentence of life imprisonment was imposed today on Rayford Mejia, 23, who was convicted of the murder of police constable Osborne Martinez on November 23, 2022.
Martinez was shot on November 5, 2018, when he and other police officers responded to a robbery in progress at Belcove Hotel, located on Regent Street West. He died later the same day at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
Justice Ricardo Sandcroft, who imposed the sentence, stipulated that Mejia would be eligible for parole after he has served a term of 22 years and 5 months, which is what remains when the time he has spent on remand is subtracted from 25 years.
Justice Sandcroft said that with the sentence, he is sending a strong message to the society that the killing of police officers is reprehensible and it cannot be countenanced.
Before he sentenced Mejia, Justice Sandcroft heard a plea for mitigation from Mejia’s father, Raymond Mejia, who said that his son is a humble person and he has never seen his son act aggressive. He asked that leniency be shown to his son.
Rayford Mejia himself took the witness stand and said that he is sorry that a police officer lost his life, and any leniency given to him will be highly appreciated.
It was a case of joint enterprise and two other men, Tyrique Myles and Glenford Lopez, were charged jointly with Mejia, but they pleaded to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Mejia was represented by attorney Oscar Selgado, while the Crown was represented by Crown Counsel Reese Cattouse.