A Belize City man, Julian “Buff” Serano, 30, who worked for UDP Port Loyola area representative Anthony “Boots” Martinez, was shot to death about 10:00 last night as he was hanging out at a friend’s yard on Guerrero Street in the Port Loyola area.
Based on a description of the gunman from witnesses in the yard and the fact that Serano and the accused’s father, Joel Bishop, had fought three days earlier, police arrested Joseph Bishop, 21, an employee of the Treasury Department.
Bishop appeared in Magistrate’s Court #1 today before Chief Magistrate Margaret Gabb McKenzie, where he was read a charge of murder. Bishop asked the court if he could say something after he was charged, and he told the court that he did not shoot Serano, who had been shot 11 times, including 6 times in the chest.
He did know Buff, he said, but he has witnesses who can vow that he was with them. Bishop added that he is the father of a six-month-old baby, and needs to be out here to provide for his child.
Joseph Bishop was nevertheless remanded to Hattieville Prison until his next court date, on Tuesday, June 19, and was told to make certain that his witnesses were there.
Amandala today visited Serano’s residence at #18 Fabers Road, and spoke with one of his sisters. She said that Buff, as everyone called him, had left home about a half hour before they received the news that he was shot. When they got to the hospital, he was dead, a doctor told them.
We have been able to verify, from five people besides Buff’s family, that he was involved in an altercation with the accused’s father on Thursday, June 7. Buff had punched Joel Bishop in the face, breaking his nose after an argument with Bishop, who is the head of a septic tank project for Port Loyola which is under the supervision of Boots Martinez.
Buff was later arrested, but at the police station, Bishop, Buff’s boss, said that he would not proceed with the court matter and would not levy charges against Buff.
Buff was released on Friday, and did not leave home until about 9:30 last night, bound for the Q-Club in the Yabra area. He stopped at his friend’s house at #13 Guerrero Street, and there he was shot.
A member of the group that was in the yard at the time spoke with Amandala. He told us that he could not believe that his friend was helplessly shot so many times in front of his eyes, but he is very grateful to be alive.
Besides himself, there were two other people in the yard – a male friend and a female friend, Rachael “Shelly” Wallace, 18, who had come to the house looking for a male friend.
Buff, whom he hadn’t seen for a while, came to the yard and asked him if he was going out to Q-Club.
He told Buff yes, that they all were going, and Buff, who was sitting on his bicycle on a pallet bridge to his gate, decided to wait until they were ready, as they were finishing a drink. They were all standing together, almost forming a square.
Buff was there for about half an hour before the witness heard what sounded like the first two shots, which means that Buff was shot from behind. He took the first shots in his back.
The witness saw the gunman, with a red rag across his face, and he made a run for it, he told us, dashing through a front opening in his yard. The side of the yard where they had been standing was unfenced, but there was an opening in the fence in the front of the yard, and he, with Buff behind, ran through the opening.
The gunman ran behind them, still firing, and the witness said he personally shifted his direction and ran towards Caesar Ridge Road, instead of Fabers Road, where Buff ran.
The determined gunman chased Buff, and Buff, after running a good distance with so many bullets in him, fell at the corner of Fabers and Kraal Roads.
The police came quickly and took Buff to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), where he died in the trauma room. Apart from being shot 6 times in the chest, he was shot 5 times in the upper and lower back. Police were able to recover three expended 9mm shells from the scene, and two more shells were discovered today.
Shelly Wallace, a daughter of Irene Wallace, who has already lost two children to gun violence, was grazed on the right hand in the spray of bullets. She was treated and later released from the KHMH.
The other male friend who was in the yard escaped unharmed. Besides those in the yard, there were seven persons in the house – a woman and six children, ages one to ten.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized. Buff is survived by his only son, age 2; his mother, Julia Casimiro; five sisters; two brothers; and his girlfriend, Stacey Martinez, the daughter of Boots Martinez. He is expected to be buried later this week.