For the second time this year, the people of Cotton Tree Village are left to wonder who would sneak into their peaceful roadside village at Mile 41 on the Western Highway and murder a young man, father of a young son, in the prime of his life.
Early indications are that Ronnie Aguilar, 30, a Salvadoran, did not die by his own hand.
Police say Aguilar was at home around 2:45 p.m. on Thursday with one Esau Perez, also a Cotton Tree resident, when an unknown man of Hispanic descent supposedly came by to purchase marijuana. We understand that the young men may have been drinking at the time.
Neighbors of Aguilar we spoke to Friday afternoon on a visit to the area, however, say they never saw Aguilar engaged in criminal activity; they said that he kept to himself.
According to police, Aguilar then left for an undisclosed location, with Perez and the Hispanic customer allegedly staying behind. Aguilar was said to be carrying an unknown sum of money and wearing two gold chains around his neck when he left.
Forty-five minutes later, at 3:30, three gunshots were heard, and this caused Perez to leave Aguilar’s home and round up a friend, one Anthony O’Connor, to begin searching for Aguilar in the surrounding bush. It is not known what Aguilar’s visitor did at this point.
Soon after, Aguilar’s body was found, face up, the valuables missing, with apparent gunshot wounds to the face, right side of the neck, chin, and right shoulder. He was pronounced dead at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan after police arrived on the scene around 5:30 Thursday evening.
Police say they have detained two suspects and are looking for another man, but that has not prevented residents, even those who say they did not know Aguilar well, to become concerned for their own safety. Shop attendant Mirna Sanabria was killed here in her own store after it was held up in April.
The village, baking in 90º+ temperatures on Friday, was quiet, as residents went about their daily duties.
But none will be satisfied until police find out who snuffed out Ronnie Aguilar – and why. Area residents were unable to tell us for how long he had lived in the village or what he did for a living. He had one son with a young woman living in a nearby village, we were told, and information to Amandala since Friday is that that young woman apparently walked out on him following a lovers’ quarrel.
Police say they are looking at the case from all angles. Reports to Amandala are that Aguilar may have either been waylaid by, or accompanied his killer to the bushes near his home, and that it may be related to an incident some months ago in which Aguilar’s hand was broken.