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Voice of: Resident
"He was a nice person, once he sees you on the street he will greet you, smile at you, hang out, take his little drink to time, greet the baby around the lane, I didn't know him as anyone who troubled nobody."

Courtney Weatherburne reporting
But last night, Phillip Samuels got caught up in some trouble at the Southside Villas apartment building. What started as a fun night with friends ended in bloodshed.

Voice of: Resident
"We were all hanging out at apartment 5 while I saw Phillip Samuels and the other guy got in an argument so I exit the apartment and when I went back in I saw them fighting and blood was everywhere, blood was coming from Phillip that is when we saw he got stabbed then me and another girl helped him out of the apartment and on the street he collapsed."

Courtney Weatherburne
"I understand that a young lady was punched, the other guy punched the young lady and maybe that could have started the argument?"

Voice of: Resident
"Yes, Phillip didn't like that the guy hit the girl so that is how it started."

Courtney Weatherburne
"So he just targeted the girl there was no issue between the girl and him?"

Voice of: Resident
"He said that the girl disrespected his wife in front of him."

And the man who knocked the woman unconscious and then stabbed Samuels is allegedly Cecil Gill.

He lives right next door in apartment 4 with his wife. Samuels and Gill are known to be hang out buddies and apparently have no previous beef but residents say that it's the liquor that fueled Gill's murderous rage.

Voice of: Resident
"Both of them were drinking so I guess it was the alcohol but the guy that stabbed him I guess he was the one that was really really high, drink and he just went off, he hit the girl everybody was shocked and then he just come into the apartment and start at Phillip."

"When he drink like I don't think he thinks before he does things."

Now Gill is on the run and police are following leads to locate him.

Sr. Supt. Mark Vidal, OC, Southside Commander
"The officers are seeking him right now, we have visited several homes in Belize City where we suspect he may be but we understand he may also be outside of Belize City so we have sent out all formation Message seeking him noh."

Both Gill and Samuels were known to police.

In March 2015 police shot Samuels in a chase. Police said that he had a gun on him and he was charged with firearm offenses. But his mother, now deceased came to our studio on March 31st 2015 defending her son's name.

FILE: March 31, 2015
Cherry Mae Moss: Mother of Deceased
"They shot my son for no reason, everybody tell me they shot him for no reason. I don't know why he shot him, I don't know why."

While Samuels survived that police shooting, he didn't get to cheat death again in this deadly struggle with a friend.

As you heard, police are looking for Cecil Gill. Gill was involved in another stabbing incident back in July 2016. He was charged with attempted murder for stabbing Micheal Herrera, also to the chest. Samuels leaves behind 4 young kids.