A cold-hearted gunman shot Troy Polonio, 20, who had his baby in his arms
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 17, 2019–The blood of another young man was spilled on the streets of Belize City. The incident was particularly tragic because the victim, Troy Polonio, 20, a rigger of Raccoon Street, Belize City, who used to install and repair antenna towers, had his baby in his arms at the time of the shooting.
Polonio’s family told Amandala that at about 8:30 Sunday night, Polonio went to his girlfriend’s mother’s house on Raccoon Street to pick up his baby boy and girlfriend, after which the couple would have headed, with their toddler, to their apartment, also on Raccoon Street, not far from his girlfriend’s mother’s house.
He and the baby, 1 ½ years old, were standing on the street in front of the house, while his girlfriend, Essenie Vernon, was talking with her mother in the yard, where other persons were socializing, when a man came up from behind some old cars parked on the roadside by the house and fired at him.
The first shot missed him, and he put down the baby, but as he was about to escape, he somehow stumbled, and that was when the killer fired again and struck him in the back.
Polonio fell on the road, and the gunman ran away.
His girlfriend, Essenie Vernon, and her mother quickly reacted. Vernon told us that she went to hold and comfort her boyfriend while her mother ran to pick up the baby. Vernon said that she was holding him when he took his last breath in her arms.
Her brother quickly got his car and she put him in the car and they rushed him to the hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.
Police investigating the murder of young Troy Polonio have not yet made any arrests, and say that they don’t know the motive for the murder.
Gaynor Ciego, Polonio’s mother-in-law, said that just that evening, she and her friend were talking and she said that she wished that the senseless shooting and killing would stop, not knowing that the killing would come to her door.
She is devastated because Troy, she said, was a private person who bothered no one and was devoted to his young son. She knows of no reason why he was targeted.
During the regular police press brief held at the Raccoon Street Police Station, Senior Superintendent of police Hilberto Romero, Deputy Head of National Crimes Investigation, said that investigators are still on the ground collecting statements. Romero said that Polonio is not known to police, and there are no suspects as yet.