Thursday, October 3, 2024

2nd Murder in San Pedro in one week

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Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the fatal stabbing of 24 year old Leonel Pinelo, resulted in the apprehension and charge of one Jason Reyes, 21 year old resident of a Boca del Rio Area address in San Pedro. The incident occurred shortly around midnight on Friday, November 5th on Lagoon Drive in the Boca del Rio Area of San Pedro Town.

Our sources within the police department revealed that Pinelo was initially involved in an argument that had ensued at the Los Compadres Bar, to which members of the police department were called and responded.

Upon reaching the establishment, our sources inform, the argument was calmed and the crowd that had gathered was disbursed; after which, Mr. Pinelo reportedly left the establishment and headed to the town core area. This incident reportedly occurred at around 9:30pm.A couple hours later, at around 11:30pm, a second group of individuals were reportedly involved in another argument around the same area, also involving Mr. Pinelo. Information reaching our office is that Mr. Pinelo was on a golf cart with four other individuals driving by a nearby establishment, the Rainbow Star Machine Bar, in the Boca Del Rio area. There were three young men standing in front of the establishment, of which one of them reportedly threw a pint bottle at the golf cart.

No longer had this incident occurred that the driver of the golf cart stopped and reversed. Seeing that there were only three young men standing in front of the establishment, the five guys on the golf cart took this as an opportunity to retaliate and an argument ensued.

Unbeknownst to the passengers of the golf cart, there were an additional four young men inside the establishment who quickly joined the three standing outside when the argument commenced. During the altercation, 24 year old Leonel Pinelo was reportedly stabbed once to the upper left rib cage. He was taken to the local Clinic where his condition was pronounced as critical and hence, transported to Belize City where he succumbed to his injuries.The San Pedro Police initially detained seven individuals in relation to the case. Two were released, by early Monday morning, while the other five were being detained pending the outcome of the investigation.

Diligent investigation into the circumstances in relation to the crime lead to the additional release of four individuals whose testimonies will be crucial in the outcome of the trial against, Mr. Jason Reyes; formally charged with one count of murder in the magistrate court, presided over by Magistrate Patricia Arana on Tuesday morning, November 9th, 2010. Magistrate Patricia Arana explained to Reyes that his crime was indictable and hence no plea was taken and as such he was remanded to the Hattieville Prison. Jason Reyes is scheduled to reappear in the San Pedro Magistrate Court on December 8th, 2010.

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