DANGRIGA, Wed. June 12, 2019– A man who has been eluding police for about 73 days, has been arrested. Police said that Starling Perez, 24, a laborer of Jane Usher Boulevard, Belize City, who was wanted for the murder of Carlos Reyes, 48, a fisherman of Dangriga, and the shooting of Reyes’ friend and worker, Ishmael Pimentel, 23, of Sarawee, Stann Creek District, was charged with murder and attempted murder, and he has been detained pending arraignment at the Dangriga Magistrate’s Court for the offences.

Reliable information to us is that on March 28, Reyes was in the kitchen of his house on Citron Street in Dangriga and Pimentel was sitting in a sofa in the living room, when an unknown man went into the house and fired at Pimentel, hitting him in the abdomen.

The gunman then went into the kitchen, where he shot Reyes, and then he ran out of the house and escaped in a getaway vehicle.

Police said that Reyes was struck about 8 times, in the head, back, chest and abdomen, while Pimentel was shot once in the abdomen. Pimentel was rushed to the Southern Regional Hospital, where he was admitted in a critical condition, and Reyes was taken to the morgue.

The motive for the murder is not known. Reyes was well-known as a hardworking fisherman in the community, and he also made boat runs from Dangriga to Puerto Barrios in Guatemala, and to Livingston in Honduras, frequently.

After the shooting occurred, police had said they were looking for two men from Port Loyola, Belize City, who they believed traveled to Dangriga to carry out the shootings.

An off-duty policeman was in the area when the shooting began and he went to Reyes’ house to investigate, and saw the two injured men. Reyes was motionless on the kitchen floor. Neighbors who were alarmed by the shooting went to the house and took Pimentel to the Southern Regional Hospital.

Police said that Perez was not known to them prior to the shooting death of Reyes and the wounding of Pimentel.