Frederick Williams, an 18-year-old Belize City youth, died this weekend after gunman hunted him down in the safety of his own home.
Police say that shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday, March 13th, 2020, they went to the KHMH to follow up on a report that there had been a shooting on Partridge Street Extension. When they arrived, they found Williams suffering from multiple gunshots to the body. What investigators have since been able to establish is that he was at his family’s house, the lower flat of a two-story building. His two younger siblings were inside the house with him, when a gunman suddenly forced their front door open. The shooter immediately took aim at Williams and shot him several times in the presence of the younger children and then fled the scene. Fortunately, Williams’ siblings were spared from the deadly attack, but first responders had to rush him to the KHMH in the hopes that they could treat his injuries.
His mother, Lafaye Lewis, told the press, that she was patiently waiting for him to reach home from the police station, and she did expect to get a call that he was gunned down at their house.
Lewis told the press, “I had gone to look for him at the station because they told me that they would have released him at 11:00 o’clock. When I got to the station they told me that they’d already released him. So, I went back to my girlfriend’s house and when I got to my girlfriend’s house… she said they just called her and told her to tell me that they shot my son at home. So, I told her, ‘you guys play too much and you shouldn’t play like that.’ …I didn’t believe it.”
Luis then rushed home, and after she was informed about the sequence of events, she went to the KHMH to visit Williams. They reportedly had a conversation about the attempt on his life, and after that, he was taken by the doctors for emergency surgery.
Williams survived the attack for about seven hours, but his health took a turn for the worst, and he passed away at around 5:50 a.m. on Saturday.
It is uncertain why Williams, a teenager with his entire life ahead of him, was targeted for this execution. Police suspect, however, that he was killed as a result of ongoing disputes between feuding gangs within his neighborhood.
They have confirmed to the press that Williams was one of a person of interest in a number of recent crimes that they were investigating in Belize City. Lewis has insisted to the press that he did not get caught up in trouble on the streets.
She said, “My son hasn’t committed any crime. The only crime my son had ever gotten anything for – and he won his case – was a case where police had shot him… They said he robbed someone, some security guard when police shot him. My son is like… is not a thief, and he didn’t need to steal because his family takes care of him.”
Interestingly enough, just a few days before his execution, Williams was caught on cellphone video fighting with another man reportedly after he tried to snatch that person’s gold chain.
