BELIZE CITY, Wed. Feb. 26, 2020– This afternoon in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, Raheem Budram, 19, was jointly arraigned with Kareem Eagan, Jr., 19, for the murder of Shane Budram, 43, Raheem’s uncle, who was gunned down in cold blood on Friday night, February 21, on Wagner’s Lane.

The two accused men appeared before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford, who, before reading the murder charge, informed them that she would not take a plea from them because the offense is indictable and will not be heard by her court.

Senior Magistrate Ford, after reading the charge, also informed the two men that there is no bail for the offense of murder.

The court prosecutor, Sergeant Kennard Clarke, then set April 30 as the next adjournment date for the duo to be brought back to court from prison.

Sometime after 10:00 p.m. on Friday, Shane Budram and his nephew got into a heated argument at the point where the mouth of Simmons Alley intersects with Wagners Lane. The argument would continue for a long time before it escalated into gun violence.

Shane Budram, a longtime resident of Wagner’s Lane, was then shot, and he began running away from the person who had shot him. Budram was running in a southerly direction toward his house, which lies closer to Berkeley Street.

On Monday, eyewitnesses who spoke to Amandala on condition of anonymity told us that as Budram was running away, he was pursued and shot multiple times. By the time he reached his house where his common-law wife and daughter were, Budram collapsed and died at his doorway.

Shane Budram had had a number of run-ins with the law, but from all accounts, he was turning his life around, devoting himself to his family and trying to be a good role model for the young men growing up in the Wagner’s Lane area, which is also known as “Jump Street.”

On Monday, before he handed himself in to police, Raheem Budram posted a photograph of himself along with his deceased uncle with the following words: “One love, mein uncle. I will miss you, mein, you taught me everything I know. You will always be my general. It hurt me yuh gone, mein, but yow, such is life, mein. Love yoh, mein. Life goes on Dan man!”

Feature photo: (l-r) Raheem Budram, Kareem Eagan and Shane Budram, deceased