Possible Murder Witnesses slain in Martin’s!!!

The criminal mind has apparently elevated to another level as women have now become targets of gun violence, the latest of whom is a 33 year-old single mother.  Shelmadine Sanchez of # 5 Oleander Street in the Saint Martin de Porres area was viciously gunned down as she walked home from a social evening on Friday.  Sanchez, whose life has been plagued by violence and more recently, threats of death, was shot seven times a few yards away from her house just before midnight last Friday.  She had just left her two friends sitting on a car and said she was heading home when they heard the shots that killed her.  Sanchez’ attacker reportedly hid behind a tree and ambushed her as she approached her house.

Sanchez, a single mother of a 12 year old girl, held onto life for almost three hours, but the bullet wounds that perforated her stomach and damaged both lungs claimed her life around 3:00 that morning.  She had been receiving threatening text messages and phone calls for several weeks, purportedly because she had witnessed the murder of Dennis Nembhard, 35, also known as “Kalad”, who was killed not far fron her house last year June.  That trial was expected to be called next week and Sanchez was one of the witnesses who would have bene called.  For months, however, she had been telling friends that she was too scared to testify.  The accused in that murder trial, Emerson Eaghan, 18, was acquitted of the charge but he was quickly recharged.

Sanchez’ brother, Glenford, is awaiting trial for the murder of thei father, 80 year old clifton, who was beaten to death over a shilling in May of this year at Sanchez’ home.  Prior to that, she herself had been the victim of violence at the hands of her brother.

As if Sanchez’ murder wasn’t bad enough, less than six hours later on Saturday morning, her neighbour, Ivan Francis, 56, a welder, was found with a bullet hole through his neck at his workshop behind a Chinese grocery shop.  His family went to check on him after their calls to his cellular phone went unanswered and that was when they found him dead.  A few of his neighbours are speculating that he wass killed because he saw when Sanchez was murdered the night before.  It is a link police are yet to establish as they search for clues in the bizarre homicides that have rocked the Saint Martin area.

Meanwhile, Belmopan police have arrested and charged four youths  in connection with the incident that claimed the life of Efrein Ramirez, 19, who was stabbed in his throat last Friday night ner his home in Salvapan, Belmopan.

The four charged are: Carlos Montejo, 20, Luis Medina, 21, Nazim Cantun, 18 and Margarito Osorio, 19.  Medina and Cantun themselves suffered chop wounds in the brawl that night.  Ramirez died on a driveway in front of # 29 Venezuela Street.  While police have brought only one minor charge against these four for his killing, they are hoping that by the time the case is called on September 29, they would have gathered sufficient evidence to charge someone with the murder.

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