Photo: J’Bria Michelle Bowens, deceased
Two San Pedro residents have been jointly charged with the murder of American nursing student, 23-year-old J’Bria Michelle Bowens, who was fatally wounded in the neck by a stray bullet in a public area of San Pedro Town after a birthday dinner for her father.
by Charles Gladden
SAN PEDRO TOWN, Ambergris Caye, Tues. Jan. 3, 2023
On Friday night, December 30, in the vicinity of the Jaguars Night Club in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, a young female tourist, J’Bria Michelle Bowens was shot and killed by a stray bullet, after a gunman, believed to be involved in an ongoing gang war tied to drug sales, saw a rival buying food at the club counter and grabbed an assault rifle and fired wantonly into a crowd in a reckless execution attempt. The shots sent tourists and locals in the public area into a panic as they scrambled for safety. At the end of the shooting, the intended target had escaped, and 23-year-old US nursing student, J’Bria Michelle Bowens, who had been celebrating her father’s birthday with family that evening, lay dead. Bowens had reportedly been sitting in a golf cart along with relatives not far from Jaguars Night Club near the park at about 9:27 p.m. that night when the gunman apparently saw his target purchasing food, and paid no heed to the fact that some tourists on a golf cart were in the direct line of fire. According to a priest at a nearby church, “there was a lot of children, there were a lot of families just hanging out … in the park and playing in the park” at the time.
Bowens, who was fatally wounded in the neck by a stray bullet, had reportedly had dinner with her family at Elvi’s Kitchen, where one of the waiters sang happy birthday to her father, just before the shooting.
The Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, told local media yesterday morning, “What led to the incident in front of Jaguars, there was a member of one of the groups in San Pedro at the Jaguar Night Club. I guess he was purchasing food and I—apparently one of the rival groups may have seen him there and came for him.”
An eyewitness who was working at the nearby park told 7News that he saw a man wearing a ski mask and a fisherman hat approach the area with a black bag in his hand and at some point that man noticed his target purchasing food. According to the witness, “When he saw it, he walked back towards the bathroom at the park and put the black bag down and hauled out a machine AK gun and just came back … and pointed it towards Jaguars, and a lot of people were there and he just opened [fire].” The witness said that he “sprayed the gun—just shot it, like with no sense.” One of the bullets fatally struck Bowens in the neck, while the intended target was unhurt. According to reports, the triggerman then jumped into a boat at the back of another establishment and fled. Meanwhile, attempts to resuscitate Bowens were futile, and she was transported to the San Pedro Poly Clinic, where she was pronounced dead on arrival at 9:45 p.m.
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams later confirmed the accuracy of what the eyewitness had said. According to Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, two suspects have been detained in connection with this shooting: 33-year-old Lucio Salazar and 24-year-old Delson Paguada, who appeared before Magistrate Dennison Mannan in the Magistrate Court in Belize City and were remanded to the Belize Central Prison until March 3, 2023.
Police are also searching for Alfredo Trapp, a resident of San Pedro Town, for questioning in connection with the murder.In the wake of Bowen’s murder, the US Embassy issued the following statement:
“We are saddened by the events in San Pedro, Belize, that occurred Friday. We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in San Pedro and offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim. We are closely monitoring the local authority’s investigation.”
San Pedro only recorded one other murder for 2022, which occurred on November 19.