Photo: Breeann Kyle, deceased
by Charles Gladden
LIBERTAD, Corozal District, Mon. Mar. 4, 2024
Police are trying to gather the pieces together for the series of events that led to the death of an American national – Breeann Ella Kyle, 41, who resided with her husband, Jaquan Smith, 20, in Libertad Village in the Corozal District. She was discovered dead at home in the village on Saturday, March 2, by a family friend.
Before the shocking discovery that day, the family of Kyle, who reside in the US, received a shocking and disturbing text message from her reading, “Save the baby!”
When a family friend, a 59-year-old taxi driver of Orange Walk Town, arrived at the residence, he found a bloody scene, a motionless Kyle with multiple stab wounds lying on the couch in her living room.
Initial reports from earlier that day are that Smith was involved in a road traffic accident between Miles 74 and 75 on the Philip Goldson Highway; while undergoing treatment, he informed cops that Kyle was killed and that he had attempted to bury her body.
“He eventually told the police that someone had gone into the home and killed his wife, and he was just trying to bury the body before, instead of reporting it to the police. Nonetheless, the police didn’t buy that story, [and] all indications were that he was the one who killed his wife,” said Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams.
When they responded to the scene, authorities discovered Kyle’s body as described and the couple’s 10-month-old child inside and unharmed. Additionally, cops discovered an area within the residence that had been dug up; they believe that whoever had killed Kyle was about burying her remains there.
Kyle’s body was transported to the Corozal Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead later that afternoon, and her body awaits a post-mortem.
Smith was detained as the primary suspect on that same day.
ComPol Williams noted this morning, March 4, that while he was detained at the Corozal Police Station, and officers at the station were conducting routine checks on him, Smith was well. Police left him briefly to get food for him, and when they returned with the food 10 minutes later they found him lifeless, suspended in his cell by his long pants.
“At this time, we don’t see anything wrong that the police may have done, or any negligence on their part, because cell block checks are normally done every half an hour, and for them to check 10 minutes prior, and he was alive and well. They only went to get the prisoner food, and came back and found him hanging. I don’t see how we can hold the police accountable,” he said.
The Commissioner further went on to say … “From what I’m getting, there’s nothing to indicate that he would have committed suicide; but part of the protocol that we do is to ensure that whenever we have a prisoner in custody, whether there are signs of them wanting to commit suicide or not, we would normally take away items from them that we believe they can use to commit suicide. Like a shoelace, a belt, or anything, but we cannot go to the extent and removing a person’s clothing.”
There have been no substantial reports of a history of domestic abuse with the family. The couple had moved to Libertad just a few months before the tragic murder and suicide.
Regarding the infant, the child has been handed over to Social Services, and attempts are being made through the US Embassy for Kyle’s relatives to take custody.
To note, the last murder to have occurred in the village was in June 2023.
