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Walter Beaton, 48, taximan, executed in front of his house

HeadlineWalter Beaton, 48, taximan, executed in front of his house

BELIZE CITY, Sun. Mar. 3, 2019– Walter Beaton, 48, a cab driver of Reggae Street who was a father of 8 children, was ambushed and shot to death at about 12:30 this morning in his yard. His killer lay-waited him in his yard, and as Beaton drove up and got out of the cab to open his gate, the assassin ambushed Beaton and shot  him multiple times.

Beaton apparently died almost immediately in front of his house.

A neighbor of Beaton told us that he and his girlfriend were on their verandah when they heard gunshots, and saw gun flashes, and they quickly took cover in their house.

Shortly after, when they thought that the shooter had gone, the neighbor exited his home and went to see what had happened.  He did not see his neighbor, Beaton, however, or the cab.

Two police vehicles went to the scene, and then left.

The neighbor said that he went back in the morning at about 6:00 to check on Beaton, and that was when he saw him lying face-down in the drain in front of his house. He said that he did not see any blood where Beaton was lying, and the vehicle was now parked in the yard.

The neighbor told us that he first thought that Beaton was drunk, but when he approached him, he saw gunshot wounds in his chest and arm.

Police returned and took Beaton’s body to the morgue.

On our visit to Beaton’s house, we saw his devastated daughter, 19, who showed us his room, which had been ransacked. The television had been taken apart as if though someone had been looking for something inside.

The daughter said that she stayed sometimes with her father, and sometimes with her boyfriend, and she had not gone to her father’s home the previous night.

Beaton’s neighbor described him as being a serious and very careful person. In the morning when he drove out to begin his cab service, he locked his gate and when he returned, he locked his gate, but on that morning, the neighbor found the gate open, and so knew that something was wrong.

One of Beaton’s relatives told us that he was not robbed, because $600 was in his wallet and the money was returned to them by police. So the motive for the shooting was not robbery. It is not yet known why Beaton was killed.

As night was setting, on the day of Beaton’s murder, his daughter, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s friend began to get frantic in their effort to leave the house, fearing that the killer would return, because he had not found whatever he wanted.
Shortly after, they were able to leave the house.

For police, Beaton’s murder is yet another murder added to the long list of cases to be investigated.

This is not the first time that Beaton, who was known to police, had been shot. In June 2015, he was riding his bicycle on Kraal Road from Neal Pen Road when a man fired at him. Beaton jumped off his bicycle and took cover in the drain, and the shooter escaped.

 At that time he was only hit in his right arm.

Beaton’s children range in ages from 9 months to 30 years. His children did not live with him.

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