7 News Belize

Chopping Murder In Belmopan
posted (August 15, 2016)
2 brothers were viciously chopped early this morning in Belmopan, one died and the other survived. 24 year old Walter Alvarado and his brother 33 year old Clerito Perez were out on a food run when they were chased and then chopped up badly. Today we traveled to Belmopan to find out more about the gruesome attack and what may have fueled it. Courtney Weatherburne has the story.

Courtney Weatherburne reporting
Last night after church, Walter Alvarado, his girlfriend and his older brother Clerito Perez went to their favorite food spot in Maya Mopan. It was a routine stop for them but that all changed when 3 men confronted them at the store.

They all left the store but the men followed them up the Maya Mopan road and attacked them. The men broke a bottle on Alvarado's and his girlfriend's head.

She ran away but the men kept coming at Alvarado, threw him in the drain and chopped him in the head. Alvarado had just come out of the hospital this afternoon and was eager to tell us his frightening story.

Walter Alvarado, Survived Attack
"I went to buy fry chicken and when I came back, he told me to wait for him out here and that he was going to buy 2 beers at Temptation. He came with the 2 beers and the guys started to harass me and tell me about '18th Street and this and that." I told him that the problem he has is with my brother and not with me, because I am not 18, nor MS nor anything and that's why I walk free in the streets. And then they pushed me and they started to hurt me in my face and then my brother came out and tell them to stop. We started to walk fast, but they met us by Mopan area and right there they pushed me in the drain and they chop my head. I only remember that I stab one of them in their belly, because I had my knife on me too."

While Alvarado was able to defend himself and escape death, his brother, Clerito Perez was not so fortunate. After the attack on the Maya Mopan road, Perez rushed over to his wife's shop on St. Peter Street when he was ambushed. He was chopped to the head and his arm was almost severed.

Walter Alvarado, Survived Attack
"They attacked me first and then my brother. Afterwards my mom said that my brother reached home like normal and then he came out again and I think they lay waited him in the dark and right there they attacked him."

Perez's wife and other relatives and friends found him bleeding out on the street, nothing more could be done for him.

Angelica Guiterrez, Wife of Clerito Perez
"When I went outside the hut, he was thrown on the road, filled with blood with some deep and horrible cuts and then they took him in the ambulance and took him to the hospital and when we reached, they told us the news that he had died."

The family is trying to figure out why these brothers were targeted, Alvarado told us it might be gang related.

Courtney Weatherburne
"You mentioned that they were saying or telling you something about MS-13. Do you think this is gang related? Or do you know if your brother or you associated or any of your friends associated with the MS-13 gang back here?"

Walter Alvarado, Survived Attack
"Like the police told me 'if your brother is 18s and they are 13s, they have to finish with all your family to make them stay happy'."

And before that happens Alvarado is pleading for the police to bring justice for his brother or else, he will.

Walter Alvarado, Survived Attack
"In my heart I will try recuperate myself and if police doesn't do anything, I have to do it for my brother, because I know where they lives, I know where they hang out and the only thing I ask is for the police to help us and put them in jail."

Neither Alvarado nor Perez had kids. Police say they are looking for 3 men but can't confirm if the brutal assault was gang related.

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