Hilberto Sotz
The autopsy on the body of Hilberto Sotz was finally released this morning and the second form student of Baptist High School did not die of natural causes as police had originally indicated he died after complaining of chest pains. By this afternoon, Caye Caulker Police Officers, forty-three year old Leonard Nunez and thirty-two year old Hallet King were jointly charged for the murder of Sotz. The disgraced police officers who appeared before Chief Magistrate Anne-Marie Smith walked in cuffs over to the court-room, followed by the presence of top brass officials from the Police Department, including Superintendent Hilberto Romero. Both men were remanded to custody until July fourteenth after which a disclosure and P.I. will be set. Nunez and King appeared very calm as they walked purposefully with head held high to and from the court room. There were several personnel with the Belize Police Department, but the two accused were not shielded from the cameras. Sotz’s distraught family told News Five’s Isani Cayetano that the postmortem results confirm that the student was murdered for nothing.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
An autopsy on the body of eighteen-year-old Hilberto Sotz, who died while in police custody on Monday, has been completed. The results of the post mortem examination indicate that the teenager did not succumb to natural causes.
Santorino Sotz
Santorino Sotz, Father of Deceased Teen
“My son died because of trauma in his head and the hurt in his head and his body and his stomach. They found a lot of blood, hard blood in his stomach.”
In an initial interview with the parents on Tuesday, Carmelina Sotz told News Five that the officer who informed her of Hilberto’s passing said that he died as a result of respiratory failure.
Carmelina Sotz, Mother of Deceased [File: June 9th, 2015]
“Dehn tell me dat da wahn breathing problem. Dehn I know as a mother, I da ih ma, I neva, neva bring my son da hospital no time from since he was a baby. Neva yet. So why da breathing problem, I noh know.”
Of note is that the coroner’s report mentions nothing of the sort.
Santorino Sotz
“This is not a natural death and we have the proof now and they can’t say that they are not the ones. So the doctor proved it and we checked everything. So I don’t know what they will do with those officers but they supposed to get charged for murder. This is not a manslaughter because my son was not sick, I know that.”
Ironically, the officer who bore the bad news that evening, CIB Nelson Nunez, is in the hot seat tonight, as he is being accused of causing Sotz’s death.
Santorino Sotz
Leonard Nunez & Hallet King
“How he will go and tell and say that my son just stopped breathing. My son stopped breath because ih punch ahn eena ih stomach, ih block ih breath. You see weh kinda lie that officer is saying.”
Also arraigned in connection with the incident is Tourism Police Officer Hallet King. King, on the day before Sotz died in their presence, had just received a commendation for demonstrating determination to uphold the law and protect the citizens and visitors of Caye Caulker Village. What difference a day makes.
Carmelina Sotz
Carmelina Sotz
“I wahn justice because the police on the island are not doing their job the way how they business fi do it right, because I sih it with my own eyes, I live deh. When you go mek wahn complaint dehn no listen to you but if you have money and you pay dehn, dehn wahn attend to you, because dehn do it already. I faced it already.”
What is left in the wake of the indictment is now entirely up to the courts.
Santorino Sotz
“I have to take legal action because my son never died by sickness or something. They cut my son’s life. They murdered my son that’s why I noh think it’s right to let this go. My son died for nothing.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
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