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Popular DJ Murdered, For What?
Thu, May 25, 2017
Right now, in the local fraternity of DJ's is mourning the loss of one of their own. He's Andrew Bennett, better known by his stage name, "Hard Rock", and he was at his home on Central American Boulevard last night. That's basically the headquarters for his music business, and where youths congregate to practice the art of disc jockeying.

So, it should have been a safe place, but that's where Hard Rock's killer came to take his life. His entire neighborhood now grieves, and today, our news team went looking for answers. Daniel Ortiz reports:

Evan "Mose" Hyde - Program Manager, Krem Radio
"Stunned. I don't know if there is any other word that comes to mind, but completely stunned and besides stunned, it's like, it's just, it's like when you get a punch in your gut, because I woke up in the middle of the night and saw the bunch of messages and I was like, I couldn't really put my head around its Hard Rock got shot down. I mean Hard Rock is not a gangster."

Voice of: Ethel Nicholas- Mother of Deceased
"Its devastating and its hard, but we have to cope with it."

Daniel Ortiz reporting
That's the general sentiment we got from many of Andrew Bennett's friends and family. They were all trying to process that he is no longer with them. "Hard Rock", as he was better known, was killed by a gunman right in front of his house on Central American Boulevard.

Police say that at around 7:43 p.m. last night, he was under the bus shed, right outside his front gate when a man opened fire on him. He was injured several times to the head and body, and died on the spot.

Voice of: Ethel Nicholas- Mother of Deceased
"Whole day I see him in the morning. He wasn't at his house until the evening. Then he sent his little daughter over to get some food to eat and we send the food and just after that you heard the shots rang out. We don't know what happen and we don't know why."

Just Like that, "Hard Rock's" life was ended by the street violence that he quietly tried to shield many of the community's youths from. A number of Belize City based DJ's owe their careers to his guidance.

Evan "Mose" Hyde - Program Manager, Krem Radio
"That is not the guy you expect to see on the asphalt with X amount of gunshots in him."

His mother says that landing a job at Krem was also a huge deal for "Hard Rock". His former employer says that he was the guy who helped to problem solve with technical failures on the fly.

Evan "Mose" Hyde - Program Manager, Krem Radio
"The work that Hard Rock did takes place kind of under the radar and I guess some people in the broader society might not be aware, but you got this brother that basically turned his house into a sanctuary for the youths and out of that sanctuary, responsible for enough DJ careers including enough DJ who we utilize at KREM."

"Hard Rock has spent like maybe we called it 2-3 tours at KREM and the man opened up his home for youths and really that would be one of the examples of a member of the community, providing a space for our endangered youths find a positive way forward. The irony in it really juts slap your head side like a 2x4."

Voice of: Ethel Nicholas- Mother of Deceased
"A lot of DJs here about the place could say that they had passed through him and he helped a lot of young ones to try to uplift themselves and try do something for themselves and a lot of people look up to him for that, because he was a role model. He was not the type who were about doing nothing out of the way. I never had to go to the police station. I never had to do anything, because he is not like that."

Evan "Mose" Hyde - Program Manager, Krem Radio
"Some of the DJs that we use of his sanctuary, like DJ Tun, DJ Sampler, we had DJ JR, DJ Spice - who then emerge into a television star in a "Bad Ting Mek Laugh" starring as Officer Makuti. All of those youth come up underneath his shade."

Evan "Mose" Hyde - Program Manager, Krem Radio
"Two things Hard Rock love as a DJ; he loves old school - have an amazing understanding of how to deliver old school and the he loves sound clash. We use to say the reason why Hard Rock never become a commercial success is because all he wanted to do was clash."

"But as an employee he was here not only as the DJ, but we use to always joke about Hard Rock that he would put up about 50 speakers and then about 25 of them would be working. So meanwhile he was playing his music, he was fixing the next 30 speakers. He was like out studio technician and Mr. Fix It kind of guy. He was never a man who would walk into a store and buy the newest stuff and have the newest equipment. He was always getting what people left-off and then he would put them together and let it work for him. So that was his resourcefulness."

"I can't believe I am having an interview talking about Hard Rock."

So, how did he get that nickname that was so much a part of his identity? Well, it was because he was so quiet, that those of around him didn't know his name. They picked the first thing to call him, which just happened to be "Hard Rock".

Voice of: Ethel Nicholas- Mother of Deceased
"When he use to go at St. Martin's School, he use to like play football. When he graduated from St. Martin's, Judge Brown had football at the MCC and he asked to join and I told him its okay to join. When he was on the team, he didn't like to speak, so the Hard Rock Cafe sponsored them and the shirt marked Hard Rock, so everyone started to call him Hard Rock, because they say we don't know what is your name, so we will call you Hard Rock. And that is how he got that name."

For, his mother, she needs not remember him for the tragedy from last night. She says that will hold on to treasured memories of her son.

Voice of: Ethel Nicholas- Mother of Deceased
"My son always have a smile. When he get vex, he doesn't get vex for too long - he always have a smile and that is the way I will always remember him."

Andrew Bennett leaves behind 3 children ages 11, 17, and 18. Apart from music, his house was always a fixture for sports where big feature events, like the NBA Play Off's, could be enjoyed right in his yard. Neighbors tell us that "Hard Rock" would set up a movie projector to show the games live for those youths to enjoy a theatre experience.

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