A Belize Defence Force soldier, Shane Simplis, 23, a resident of Teakettle Village, Cayo District, met his death at the hands of his own friends; he was chopped and shot to death.
Simplis suffered two chop wounds to his head, one to his right arm, and a single bullet wound in the left upper chest area.
Police say that Simplis and Elton Vasquez were in a struggle with two armed men who had a firearm and a machete. The incident took place yesterday, Wednesday, around 8:50 p.m.
Vasquez, 17, who was chopped in the left side of his back at the beginning of the attack, spoke to us in the presence of his father, and told us that up to this point, he is still in a state of shock because he cannot fathom a reason behind the attack, since all four men had been hanging out and talking prior to the attack.
Shane’s mother, Adalia Simplis, told us that her son knew the two young men who committed the crime, and furthermore, that the one who chopped him frequently visited her son, whose house is located right behind her home in the same yard.
Vasquez told us that the attack was something Shane would have never expected, because he has never gotten into an argument with the two men over the years of their friendship.
Vasquez said, “Well last night when I came from work, my brother came and told me that dem bally [the two accused] came to see me, right, so I jumped on my bike me and my bally, Simplis, we ride gah see what they want.
“When I reached there, (the two attackers’ house) it wasn’t really nothing much they were talking about, we were talking and joking and thing and then I bucked bally [one of the accused] and told him that we gwen da yard, after that we [Simplis and Vasquez] rode off.
“When I reached home, because my uncle was there too, we stopped there and we start talking when we were younger. From there my uncle said he was going home and so I told the man, later, and he gawn. Right after that, like five minutes after that, the bally, they arrived and come front of my yard, and were walking inside.
“I walked to them to see what they wanted. I think they were going to talk to me or so, but when I reached close to him [the accused with the firearm], the man whap me with a gun. After that I felt dizzy and thing, and I see di bally pull out the machete [and was] about to chop me in my head, but I move right, and that’s how the bally chopped me in my back same time. The one that chopped me started to cry and thing, and I just walked away.”
Vasquez told us that he walked away from his two attackers and went to sit on his stairs and called out for his brother to tell him that he had been chopped, and that was when Simplis came outside the house and started asking him what was wrong.
Apparently, Simplis was advised by Vasquez to run, because he was uncertain of the motive and intent of the two men. Simplis, after seeing his injured friend, decided to run around the house to hide from the two armed men, but they had already spotted him.
“The man, they turned around and went after him and they met him face up, close, when they shot him in his chest. [We were told by Vasquez that at this point, Simplis called out for someone to call for an ambulance for him].
“Bally, when they shot him, he run right, and the next bally [the one with the machete] he cried. He shouted really hard, and he chopped him [Simplis] two times in his head; he died instantly, not even two minutes or one minute, he died right there on the spot.
“As far as I know, I never had any kind of arguments with those bally, and I had no beef with them. I don’t know what went on because we never had no hard talk or anything. I really really no do deh bally deh nothing. We just come from there, and we were talking good with those guys and they just come and chop me and thing.
Vasquez told us that the gun apparently only had one bullet, and that he is certain that if it had more, that he would not have been alive.
Adalia, who was in a state of internal turmoil over the sudden and horrific killing of her son, told us that she received the news of her son’s shooting after 9:00 p.m. while she was at church. Adalia told us that according to the information she had received, after the first shot the ambulance was called, but that they did not show up, so they had to contact the police station in order to get assistance.
Adalia told us that the death of her son, who is the father of a 4-year-old boy and a common-law-husband to the child’s mother, was cheated out of his life by his own friend who, if she were to see in person, would die by her own hands.
“It’s people that he knows, so he felt that he could have talked to them, for them to leave the little boy alone. The young man [one of the accused] came to my house, eat out of my son’s plate, and he is the one that chopped him.
“If I would have seen the person, I could strangle him with my bare hands. Right now, I don’t even want to see them on picture, not even on picture,” said Adalia.
Police tonight have one of the accused, the one alleged to have had the gun, in custody, and are currently searching for the other, alleged to have been the one holding the machete. The village chairman, Matthew Patnett, told us today that the detainee’s father approached him this morning to help him take his son to the police station since he had learnt that his son was wanted by police.
Patnett told us that the young man was seated in the back seat of his, Patnett’s vehicle, when they took him to the station, and that he had appeared to be very calm, and was not talking.