Two men were charged this weekend for the murder of 16 year old Ivan Choc. On Friday the 13th Ivan Choc and his family were having dinner in their Camalote home when two masked men stormed in. The men shot Choc who was hiding under the table pleading for his life to spare. But the gunmen executed him right in front of his parents. Well, the two men who were charged are Camalote residents Damian Velasquez and Justin Banner. But they aren't just random shooters - they were friends of Choc. Belmopan Police told our colleagues at PLUS TV today that it was a very bitter fall out between the 3.
Howell Gillett, OC - Belmopan Police
"We immediately launched an investigation and based on that investigation we were able to locate a shotgun not too far from where the incident occurred and subsequent to that we also found some ammunition in a hotel room. Two persons were arrested for those ammunition. One of the two persons have been charged this weekend, along with another person separate from the one who was charged for the ammunition. Those two persons who were charged this weekend for Ivan Choc's murder are Damian Donovan Velasquez Bodden and also Justin Geovanni Banner. It seemed based on the investigation that the crime occurred as a result of retaliation. A shooting happened in the month of September and this is a retaliation to that shooting."
Reporter
"The three, the two accused knew each other?"
Howell Gillett, OC - Belmopan Police
"Yes. We know that they knew each other."
Reporter
"Was it a friendship or acquaintances, rivalry..."
Howell Gillett, OC - Belmopan Police
"Well its friends gone awry."
Police say the men checked into a hotel the same night of the incident and police later found a shotgun and ammunition in the room. As we reported, a two year old boy and a 3 year old girl were also in the house eating when the men barged in the house.
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