At about 4:20 on Tuesday morning, February 8, Coleman succumbed to injuries he received on Thursday, February 3, when a man with whom police said he had had an altercation that day while he was hanging out on Welch Street, shot him once in his neck. Today police said that they are investigating Coleman?s death as a murder case, and have since detained one man, but no charges have yet been levied against him. When the shooting first occurred last week, police had detained another man, who, they said, fitted the description of the shooter, but due to insufficient evidence he was later released. Police reported last week that Coleman was in the Welch Street area when he became involved in an altercation with another man, who pulled out a firearm and shot him in the left side of his neck. On Tuesday afternoon, Amandala spoke with Coleman?s cousin, Myrna Lopez, 30, who told us that she has since learned that her cousin?s death was a contract killing because of a misunderstanding he had with another man about two weeks prior to his death. She recalled, though, that a week before the shooting, Coleman and the man had a confrontation after the man had provoked him, and Coleman allegedly chopped him in his head during that confrontation. Coleman was consequently arrested and charged with wounding, and was that same day released on bail, said Lopez. Coleman?s relatives said, after his shooting last week Thursday, that he had been in and out of consciousness. On Sunday, when he regained consciousness, a priest prayed over him and relatives recalled that he was singing with the priest. They also said that Coleman also was able to tell them who had shot him and why, before he slipped back into a coma. He never regained consciousness again, but died on Tuesday morning, around 4:20, in the presence of his girlfriend. Coleman, who had just gotten out of jail in November of 2004, had decided to stay in Belize City instead of going back to Punta Gorda. He spent the Christmas here with relatives. His family had discouraged him from staying, but he chose to stay anyway, said his cousin. Another cousin with whom we spoke, Gladys Ramirez, 32, said that the night before Coleman was shot, she spoke with him when he visited her home on Periwinkle Street, where he stayed sometimes. Coleman stressed to her how hard he had been trying to change his lifestyle, she recalled, and mentioned his misunderstanding with his girlfriend?s ex-boyfriend, which, he said, was becoming more and more of a problem, even though he had been to the police four times to report the matter. He had told her that he wanted to continue living in the city and begin a new life with his girlfriend, she said. Relatives said that he was not the type to complain about anything, so when he spoke to them about the problems he was having, they realized how much he really wanted to change his life. According to his relatives, Coleman first went to jail at the tender age of 16 for killing another youth in Belize City. He spent ten years in the Hattieville Prison for that conviction. Coleman was accused of a number of other crimes, ranging from rape to robbery to attempted murder, said police. According to Punta Gorda police, their records show that Coleman was also found guilty of manslaughter in the death of an elderly Punta Gorda man, Francisco Gutierrez, 75, who was shot in the head during a robbery and later died in the hospital. Coleman reportedly spent a year in jail for that death. He was also arrested for raping a nun in Belize, but the case was dismissed because the nun refused to testify, citing her religion, said one of Coleman?s relatives.
