Photo: Darnell Talbert, deceased
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 12, 2024
The family of 26-year-old Darnell Talbert, a fisherman of Doublehead Cabbage Village, Belize District, who was murdered over the weekend in Scotland Halfmoon Village, is furious about the mistaken cremation of his body.
Reports are that the cremation was mistakenly carried out by a third party associated with Munnings Funeral Home.
Amandala contacted Andrew Munnings, owner of Munnings Funeral Home, for comment, but he declined to give any further interviews on the matter. However, Munnings had previously mentioned to a local media outlet that Talbert’s body was to be picked up from Burrell Boom and taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but the third party had the body cremated instead.
Munnings said only that he takes full responsibility for the third-party’s actions, and will keep on being professional after the mishap.
Talbert was gunned down on Saturday afternoon, September 7, while he was driving a car in Scotland Halfmoon, by one of the occupants of another car which overtook his vehicle sometime around 4:00 p.m. That individual opened fire at Talbert’s vehicle, hitting him in the process.
After the shots subsided, Talbert was found at the scene motionless on the side of the road. An effort was made to transport him to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, but he passed away while being taken there.
Following the incident, six persons believed to have been involved in the execution were taken into custody, according to ACP Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander of the Belize Police Department’s Eastern Division. Reports are indicating that Talbert’s death may be connected to an ongoing feud between some individuals from the two villages (Doublehead Cabbage and Scotland Halfmoon) which developed as a result of several incidents during the year. ACP Romero confirmed that such incidents took place.
Earlier in the year, an intervention was reportedly carried out by the Leadership Intervention Unit (LIU) between the groups within the villages in an attempt to minimize violence between the groups, and additional officers were deployed. ACP Romero said that police are carrying out an ongoing investigation before deciding their next move.
