A San Martin resident was stabbed to death by his friend on Friday night. 27 year old Freddy Cerritos also known as "Pilly" and his friend Howard Martinez were chatting when Martinez pounced on Cerritos and stabbed him. Now usually when we report on these weekend knife or machete murders, liquor is almost always a factor. But this one is a curious case because reports are that these men were not drinking and that they were just talking. Courtney Weatherburne traveled to Belmopan to find out how a conversation turned into a killing.
Voice of: Resident
"My boy tell me that they were talking like normal friends do and the neighbor asked the guy if he believes in God and he said no and they were silent for a while and all of a sudden he just threw himself on the on the other guy and that is how a split second it just happened."
Courtney Weatherburne reporting
What seemed like an innocent religious discussion, ended in mortal sin. Freddy Cerritos and his friend Howard Martinez were sitting in these chairs on Friday evening when Martinez snapped and stabbed Cerritos about 8 times.
Voice of: Resident
"He said he is not sure if there were fighting but when he saw there was a knife, they could not do anything because it was already done."
And it's shocking to the family as well because both men were close friends and they had no previous dispute.
Daniel Castillo, Brother
"We know the guy very well, we grew up together, we used to hang out and smoke together and sometimes we would go to his house and buy liquor and drink but we didn't have any issues at no time, none of us had any problems with him or anything like that."
Courntey Weatherburne, 7News
"Is it that he came with the knife? How did he get the knife to stab him?"
Daniel Castillo, Brother
"I don't know because people just say they saw him ruining, one young lady said she saw when the guy grabbed him but he was bigger than my brother so he would manage to...but I don't know what happened exactly."
Courntey Weatherburne, 7News
"Were they drinking?"
Daniel Castillo, Brother
"Well actually he left an hour from here before that happened to him, some say they were drinking, others say they were smoking, we didn't get the full details, nobody wants to talk, no one wants to say anything."
But there is one resident who can say with certainty that there was no drinking involved, so that leaves the family and the community with more questions and doubts than answers.
Voice of: Resident
"No drinking at all, just things happen we don't understand why."
Police need your help to solve this case, so if you see Howard Martinez around please report it to the police station. Cerritos had no kids and wasn't married.
Email
Print