Hundreds of residents from the Cayo area gathered in front of the San Ignacio Police Station on Wednesday morning as they waited for charges to be levied on 27- year-old Bert Vasquez. The crowd chanted “We want justice!” and held placards in memory of Jasmine Lowe and vented their frustration with others, which read “Len We Di Kila.” The entire event turned into a storm of support for the Lowe family as residents began to gather at the Columbus Park in front of the San Ignacio Police Station. By mid-morning, the crowd had swollen to over a thousand people. Some even carried the hangman’s noose to show what they would have in store for the accused if they were given the opportunity.
The wait went from morning until 2:35p.m., when Vasquez was taken from the police station to the San Ignacio’s Magistrate’s Court, which is next to the police station. There, he was read a single charge of murder for the killing of 13-year-old Jasmine Lowe, whose decomposing body was found on June 6th on the Cristo Rey Road in the Cayo District. Vasquez was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until September 17th on that charge.
After being charged for that crime, the Commissioner of Police, David Henderson, along with Officer commanding San Ignacio Police, Senior Superintendent Chester Williams held a press conference. At the press conference, Williams explained that the police have sufficient evidence for a conviction. Meanwhile, Vasquez is expected to appear in court again on Thursday, June 21, as there may be as many as 11 more charges brought against Vasquez for his attempts at kidnapping young girls.
Vasquez was arrested on Monday, June 19th after he was found in the company of a young girl no more than 13 years of age. Reports to the Guardian indicate that the girl was selling doughnuts in downtown San Ignacio near the market, when she was picked up and taken to an isolated area in the Branch Mouth area of town. Police were quickly alerted and found the suspect inside the vehicle with the little girl. She was reportedly nude and when she saw the police she ran out screaming for help.
The man was taken into police custody and as that took place, other young girls have come forward claiming that Vasquez had attempted to have them get into his vehicle. One 17-year-old recounted that on Thursday, June 14th, Vasquez had attempted to lure her into his vehicle, a grey Kia Spectra Car. He had approached her as she was making her way to Sacred Heart College and asked for directions to some establishment located on the Bullet Tree Road. The teen said she refused to go with him even though he offered her money to get in the car with him. While she refused the first offer, the teenager says that he circled around and again attempted to have her get into the vehicle, this time claiming that he was looking for an establishment called Greedy’s where he was supposedly to have met some friends after he received a text from them. Again, the young lady refused and he gave up that effort. The mother of the girl says that her daughter had given her the story and she immediately decided to make a police report and though the police attempted to locate the car, they were unsuccessful. It was not until Monday that the car was located with Vasquez and another little girl inside.
Break in Jasmine Lowe’s Murder
On Monday June 4th, 13-year-old Jasmine Lowe went missing as she was going to her mother’s beauty salon located on the Bullet Tree Road. Her Body was found on Wednesday, June 6th, at around 12:30p.m. a mile and a half on the Cristo Rey Road in the Cayo District.
When police took Vasquez into custody, scenes of crimes technicians processed the vehicle and came up with what could be a break in the murder of 13- year-old Jasmine. Reports are that police found a ring and hair inside the vehicle. Marisol Lowe, Jasmine’s mother, was called in to the San Ignacio Police Station on Monday night and she positively identified the ring as one that she had given her daughter for her birthday in April. Lowe identified the ring as being one which had 5 stones on it 4 of them being diamond and the other a fake diamond. Other items in the vehicle included a bag containing doughnuts in it as well as a number of vehicle license plates.
