A 23-year-old woman from New Orleans was murdered Friday in Belize, according to multiple reports.
Reports citing a Facebook page under the name J’Bria Bowens also identifies the victim as a nursing student at Louisiana State University. WWL has reached out to the university for confirmation.
Belize 7 News reported Saturday that Police Commissioner Chester Williams flew to San Pedro that morning “to coordinate the police response to last night’s public shooting in downtown San Pedro which resulted in the murder of a tourist.”
During an interview, Williams said that the victim – identified by that outlet as J’Bria Michelle Bowens –was not the target of the shooting and that is believed to be connected to “drug gangs” in San Pedro. He also said “the gunman used an assault rifle to fire indiscriminately into a crowd in front of Jaguar’s nightclub.”
Belize 7 said that Williams confirmed off-camera that the weapon was hidden in a tree near the scene before the shooting. Suspects in the shooting have been detained.
According to police information cited by Breaking News Belize, Bowens was with family members sitting in the back seat of a golf cart when someone began shooting at a man standing by Jaguar’s Nightclub at around 9:30 p.m. The young woman was struck and transported to the San Pedro Polyclinic, where she was pronounced dead.
Per the outlet, this is the fourth murder reported in Belize this week. Bowens was in San Pedro for her father’s birthday, reports said.
According to the Facebook under Bowens’ name, she was from Indianapolis, Ind., and attended Lawrence Central High School. A May announcement from Xavier University of Louisiana lists a J’Bria Bowens as a Bachelor of Science graduate.
Related
