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Murder Witness Killed In OW - Family Says He Was Lured To His Death
Tue, September 12, 2017
The Tenth of September long weekend is over - and in its wake, there are two murders and one crazy shooting to report.

We start in in Orange Walk Town where the story is about the execution of 21 year-old Gustavo Hernandez. Many in the north believe that he was killed because he was one of the witnesses to the shooting death of 24 year-old Daniel Sosa. You'll remember that explosive case from the end-of-month weekend in July where Sosa was shot in the head inside the vehicle of the prominent UDP, Hilmar Alamilla.

Well Hernandez was in the vehicle when it happened, and he would have been called by the prosecution to testify against Alamilla, who's awaiting trial for murder.

Hernandez was one of 2 men who gave police statements that Alamilla pulled the trigger on his own friend. But now, he won't testify because on St. George's Caye Day, someone shot Hernandez to death, and his family believes that he was silenced because he knew too much.

Daniel Ortiz visited went north today to find out whether or not the two cases are connected. Here's his story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
21 year-old Gustavo Hernandez was gunned down here on San Antonio Road at around 5:15 a.m. on Sunday.

His Orange Walk family believes he was targeted by a hitman sent to silence him as key witness. He was one of the 2 men who witnessed the July 29 killing of 24 year-old Daniel Sosa.

Hernandez would have been called to testify against accused murderer Hilmar Alamilla, but that can't happen again because on St. George's Caye Day, a gunman ambushed him. His mother thinks that the woman he was walking home was part of the plot to lure him into the open.

Hipolito Novelo - Love News
"Do you think that he was killed because he was a witness to the Daniel Sosa Murder?"

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez - Mother of Deceased
"I think so. I think they paid her."

Hipolito Novelo
"The girl."

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"Yes."

Hipolito Novelo
"To lure her to her death."

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"They paid her and the gunman. I think she know how the boy is. He was walking with the girl."

But, the woman being accused of being complicit in Gustavo's murder says that his grieving mother is completely mistaken.

Voice of Female Companion: - Witnessed Gustavo's Murder
"I don't know the attacker has nothing to do with that. I am in shock. I don't even know the person. The person had on a mask. Up to the girl who was coming behind saw that the person had on a mask. They started to curse and yelled at him and he rode off on his bicycle. I had nothing to do with that. Why would I want to do something like that? That doesn't make sense. I would never want to do something like that. They don't know. They are just guessing or listening to what people are saying. They were not there to see that the person had on a mask. They were not there to see my reaction. They are listening to people. No one was there but myself and the girl who was coming behind who saw everything. So they shouldn't be saying things that they don't know."

Residents tell us that the gunman came on a bike, as if expecting to run into Gustavo Hernandez. He quickly took aim at Hernandez and shot him 3 times in the head. He collapsed onto the street, and the shooter fled the scene. He was rushed to the KHMH in critical condition, where he clung to life for 13 hours. At around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, he passed away.

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"They told me that he was on one side, and she was on the other when the gunman came and shot him. They tell me that the girl ran. When she saw the shooter coming, she ran. When the one that shot him ran, she went and saw my son. She only peeped, and she left."

Voice of Female Companion: - Witnessed Gustavo's Murder
"When we reached by where I know as "Camin Car Wash," he saw this person coming on a bicycle and he grab my hand and he said "well da now" and when I lift up my head I saw the person took out a gun and so I threw myself on the ground and I yelled "please no" and he tried to run and that was when I heard the gunshots. I got up and I ran into Mr. Camin's yard which is right where we were and then I ran behind the pickup and then I peeped and then I saw him drop and the person shoot him. The person had on something on his face. I couldn't know who it was. Only the person eyes were showing. Then the person shoots him and then the girl started to shout at the person and the he went up the hill and then that was when I came out from the yard and that was when the watchman started to yelled at the person and the watchmen went at the person and I heard gunshots again. The person shoots after the watchman and then the girl lift him up (Gustavo) so that he didn't choked on his blood and then Mr. Camin came out and then they called the police and the police came quick and they put him in the police vehicle and they took him to the hospital. I was in shock."

And from his family's perspective, Gustavo Hernandez knew that he was a man with a target on his back. He had been keeping low profile after Daniel Sosa was killed, having received death threats he spoke very little about.

Hipolito Novelo - Love News
"And Gustavo was receiving death threats."

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"He was talking to my brother. They were drinking, and he said, 'It's a goal right now.' Everybody wants to kill him. But, he said, 'Uncle Juan, if they kill, let them kill me so that I die, because if I stay alive, something will happen. He used to go to my sister, and she said that he told her. He never told me anything to me."

Hipolito Novelo
"And he never told police about the threats."

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"No, he never said anything to the police."

But, whatever the case, Marisela Hernandez has lost her only son, a child she raised to adulthood as a single mother.

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"Whenever he goes out at night, he usually tells me where he is going. He would say, "When I come, I will text you and tell that I am here, so that you can open the gate and the door. He used to always tell me to close the window."

Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Are you worried that police will have difficulty finding his killer?"

Voice of: Marisela Hernandez
"I think that they will not find the killer because the girl said that the boy had on a mask. So, I don't know. I leave the justice in God's hands. And he knows who killed my son. He was my only son."

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