This is a list of people reported killed by military and non-military law enforcement officers in Belize since the 2000s, whether in the line of duty or not, and regardless of reason or method. The listing documents the occurrence of a death, making no implications regarding wrongdoing or justification on the part of the person killed or officer involved. Killings are arranged by date of the incident that caused death. Different death dates, if known, are noted in the description or footnotes. The tables below list 66 people as of July 2025.
2020s
Date Name (age) District (place) Description Ruling Nb Kevin de Paz (19) Belize (Caye Caulker) De Paz was stabbed and killed during a late night brawl on Luciano Reyes Street involving two off-duty police constables. The officers alleged they acted in self-defence, but family were not convinced. Two constables suspended; investigative outcome not clear Dyandre Chee (19) Orange Walk (Orange Walk) Police corporal Esmin Flores and police constable Salomen Cowo shot and killed Chee when he fled from arrest on a motorcycle on Boundary Road. Officers claimed they shot at Chee and a companion after hearing gunshots from the motorcycle. Chee's companion told police the sound officers heard was from the motorcycle engine, and further claimed officers used threats and intimidation to pressure him to recant his testimony. Flores and Cowo arrested and charged; trial outcome not clear David Ramnarace, Jon Ramnarace, Vivian Ramnarace Cayo (Belmopan) Police corporal Elmer Nah allegedly shot and killed three members of the Ramnarace family as they celebrated New Year's Eve in their residence. Nah charged; trial outcome not clear Andrew McDougal (25) Stann Creek (Santa Cruz) McDougal, a haemophiliac being arrested for public use of cannabis, was beaten and slammed against a police vehicle after being handcuffed by police officers John Lucas and Jameel Lewis, as per mobile phone footage. McDougal died two weeks later on 20 December of internal bleeding due to the beatings, per the autopsy report. Lucas and Lewis suspended and charged; trial outcome not clear Derrick Uh (20) Corozal (Corozal) Uh was detained by police constable Errol Peralta for disorderly conduct and alleged sexual assault on 14 August in San Joaquin, Corozal. He was placed in a sealed prisoner van and later transported to the Corozal Police Station but was not removed from the vehicle until 13 hours later, when a police officer found his lifeless body. A postmortem determined Uh died due to heat stroke as a consequence of prolonged confinement in an enclosed space. Two officers suspended and charged; trial outcome not clear Jesse Escobar (29) Cayo (Santa Familia) BDF private Raheem Valencio shot and killed Escobar in an altercation with a joint police-BDF patrol (with police officer Juan Morales and BDF soldier Ramon Alcoser) that had stopped a group of men at Branch Mouth Stop & Shop, a convenience store. The altercation allegedly started when the patrol directed a groupmember to wear a COVID-19 face mask properly. Surveillance footage showed Valencia brandishing his service M4 carbine at an unarmed Escobar after some heated words. Valencio detained and charged; trial outcome not clear Laddie Gillett (14) Stann Creek (Placencia) Gillett was shot and killed by police officer Kareem Martinez as the latter chased Gillett and another young person while responding to a call regarding a burglary in progress. Martinez convicted, 18 years' prison Akeem Tillett (33–34) Belize (Coastal Rd) Tillett, who had escaped prison on 12 October, was shot and killed during a firefight with police officers who were on the lookout for escapees. Tillett was allegedly armed with a stolen assault rifle. ? Ulysease Roca (25) Belize (Willows Bank) Roca was found dead on 19 April, two weeks after he was beaten by a police officer while in police custody for allegedly breaking a COVID-19 curfew regulation. Roca alleged that police harassed and bullied and beat him for being gay. Roca's family believed an injury from said police beatings developed an infection which proved fatal. ?
2010s
Date Name (age) District (place) Description Ruling Nb Allyson Major Jr (36) Belize (Belize) Police corporal Kent Martinez shot Major, a teacher, while in hot pursuit on Regent Street from a police vehicle after suspecting Major had purchased illegal drugs (cannabis). Major received a gunshot wound to the head and died while undergoing treatment. Martinez acquitted Nestor Vasquez Belize (Belize) Two police officers at the Queen Street Police Station failed to intervene when a mentally disabled detainee inflicted fatal head injuries on Vasquez, their mentally disabled cellmate. Two officers dismissed Ariel Salazar (46) Orange Walk (Orange Walk) Seven BDF soldiers and one police officer allegedly beat Salazar to death over a suspected mobile phone theft in his residence on San Antonio Road and Staines Alley. All but one of the soldiers or officer were allegedly masked. Soldiers and officer charged; case dismissed Mario Vernon Jr (24) Toledo (Punta Gorda) A purportedly inebriated police constable, Tevin Aranda, allegedly shot and killed Vernon, grandson of Leela Vernon, in a neighbour's residence on George Price Street. Aranda claimed Vernon had a firearm in hand, but witnesses contradicted the constable's account. Aranda suspended and charged; trial outcome not clear Dwayne Almendarez (30–31) Orange Walk (Yo Creek) Customs officer Rudolph Williams shot Almendarez in the chest, abdomen, and leg during an anti-smuggling customs-BDF bus search. Almendarez had reportedly charged at Williams when prompted to hand over his allegedly uncustomed goods. Almendarez's family claim he was unarmed. Almendarez died while in an induced coma on 19 August. Williams charged; trial outcome not clear Richard Garcia (44) Corozal (Chunox) Four police officers shot and killed Garcia after he allegedly approached the officers with a machete during a routine eviction. Neighbours rejected this account, describing Garcia as 'peaceful, humble and hardworking.' Investigative outcome not clear unnamed man (30) Belize (San Pedro) Three police officers allegedly beat a man to death while in custody on disorderly conduct charges. Officers charged; trial outcome not clear Julio Alvarado Ruano (14) Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) Alvarado Ruano was shot and killed by forest rangers during a joint border patrol with soldiers. Investigation clears rangers Edwin Ixpatac (30) Belize (San Pedro) Ixpatac, a bartender, was detained on 3 March on disorderly conduct charges. Despite being injured prior to arrest, police did not seek medical attention for Ixpatac. Video footage showed police constables Rommel Logan, Reydel Teck, and Jahisir Cobb beating Ixpatac that night. He was found unconscious the next morning, a post mortem revealing he had died on 7 March from a blow to the head received during his detention. Logan, Tech, and Cobb convicted Hilberto Sotz (18) Belize (Caye Caulker) Sotz was fatally brutalised while in custody by police officers Leonard Nunez and Hallet King. Sotz had been detained pending the investigation of a series of burglaries. According to an alleged witness, Nunez and King tortured Sotz and put a plastic bag over his head. An autopsy concluded that Sotz died from major internal bleeding and trauma caused by excessive force. Nunez and King convicted, 9 months' prison Peter Castillo Jr (21) Belize (Bacalar Chico) Castillo, an alleged playador (person combing beach for washed up cocaine parcels), was killed during a shootout with coast guard officers who were patrolling the park. The officers claimed they were returning fire. Investigative outcome not clear Tomas Desdicho Ramirez (29) Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) BDF soldiers fatally injured Desdicho Ramirez, a campesino (farmer) of San Marcos, Peten, during a routine border patrol with police and forest rangers. The patrol came across a group of allegedly armed Guatemalan civilians illicitly farming in the protected park. When ordered to surrender themselves, the men allegedly opened fire on the patrol. Investigative outcome not clear Moses Williams (25) Toledo (Big Falls) A special constable and a regular constable shot Williams while trying to subdue him after he injured one of the officers with a machete. The special constable was hospitalised, while Williams later died from the shooting. Williams's family filed complaints against the constables, arguing they mishandled the incident, in part because Williams suffered from a mental disorder. Internal investigation clears constables Ryan Lozano (21) Belize (Ladyville) Police shot Lozano while responding to a burglary in progress on 18 April. Police alleged the victim exited the home wielding a knife and crowbar and advanced towards them before one officer shot him once in the abdomen. The victim's family alleged that police shot him three times in the back while he was on the ground in police custody. Lozano succumbed to his injuries on 19 April. Investigative outcome not clear Francisco Quin Yat (37) Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) A BDF soldier on border patrol shot and killed Quin Yat, a campesino (farmer) of Monte los Olivos, Peten, allegedly after the machete-wielding farmer kept advancing on the soldier despite warning shots. ? Luis Martinez Alonzo Toledo (Columbia Forest) BDF soldiers on border patrol shot and killed Martinez Alonzo, a Guatemalan national, upon discovering an illegal logging operation in the forest reserve. Investigative outcome not clear Kendal Flowers (18), Alexander Mazariegos (22), Alley Garcia (23) Belize (Bacalar Chico) Flowers, Mazariegos, and Garcia were killed during a firefight with coast guard officers and BDF soldiers. The joint patrol had been sweeping the border park after reports of organised criminal activity in the area. Investigative outcome not clear Arthur Young Belize (Belize) Young was shot and killed when a firearm went off during a struggle with a police officer, who police claim was trying to frustrate an escape attempt by Young. None Juan Choc Chub (29) Cayo (Chiquibul Forest) BDF soldiers on border patrol shot and killed Choc Chub, a Guatemalan national, allegedly for poaching in the forest reserve. ? Alex Goff (31) Belize (Caye Caulker) Police constable Alpheus Parham allegedly shot and killed Goff while in custody after being arrested at the Lazy Lizard, a bar, for disorderly conduct and assaulting a police officer. Parham charged; trial outcome not clear Teddy Murillo (21) Belize (Belize) Murillo, a UB student and Adventist deacon, was shot and killed while biking home on Waight Street by an unknown suspect in a moving vehicle. Murillo reportedly had been involved in an altercation with a police officer earlier the same evening, and the family alleged that said police officer had committed the killing. Investigative outcome not clear Anthony Jones (41) Belize (Lords Bank) Police corporal Jorge Lemus shot and killed Jones, a Jamaican national, as he rode away from a fight outside Ruba's Bar. Eyewitnesses alleged the victim posed no threat to Lemus and police constable Lazaro Catch, but the officers claimed he carried a shiny object the corporal mistook for a gun. Lemus and Catch charged; trial outcome not clear
2000s