Residents heard gunshots shortly after one on Sunday morning, but it was several hours before police found twenty-three-year-old Christopher Smith Jr. dead in Belize City. His murder comes months after a high-profile criminal case against him ended. Tonight, investigators are trying to determine who killed Smith and why. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
In the early hours of Sunday, gunfire shattered the morning silence in Belize City, and hours later police made a grim discovery. Twenty-three-year-old Christopher Smith Jr., a man previously linked to a high-profile double murder case, was found dead with gunshot wounds on Arlington Drive. Police are now trying to determine who pulled the trigger and what may have led to his killing.
Stacy Smith
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
“At approximately seven o’clock a.m., police control was advised that the body of Smith was discovered on Arlington Drive Belize City. Investigators responded where they found the unresponsive body of Smith which exhibited gunshot injuries, they were also able to observe several expended casings in the scene. It is believed that Smith was shot around one twenty a.m. where there were reports of shots in that vicinity. However, the responding officers were not able to establish a scene at the time. The department has since retrieved footage from the crime fusion center which has provided leads and those leads are currently being pursued by investigators.”
Christopher Smith Jr. had a troubled past, but his grandmother says he was ready for a fresh start. In 2024, police charged Smith and two other men with murdering cousins Marvin Cante and Juan Raymundo, whose bodies were found in a shallow grave near Hattieville. The Director of Public Prosecutions later directed that the charges against Smith be withdrawn in November 2025. After leaving prison, his family says Smith planned to earn an honest living by working alongside his uncle as a baker.
Voice of: Grandmother of Deceased
Voice of: Grandmother of Deceased
“He told me that he was going to change his life. He told me grandma, I’m not living those life anymore. I’m going to get a job and do the right thing. I said okay son. HIs uncle was going to put him to a job.”
Smith Jr., the son of a police officer, was raised by his grandmother until the age of five. She says that even in his adulthood, he often came to visit.
Voice of: Grandmother of Deceased
“Every time he comes visit, grandma I love you so much. Granny you know how much I love you granny. I said yes grandson I love you too. Oh he’s always helpful. Always willing to do whatsoever I have to do. If I have fish to scrape, no worry, he gone. Fish neem soft and he gwen go scrape ney. That was he. Always helpful.”
While Smith is known to police, they cannot definitively link his death to the 2024 murder charges and are still exploring all possible angles for a motive.
ASP Stacy Smith
“We have not been able to establish any motive. It’s an ongoing investigation.”
Smith’s former co-defendants are set to stand trial this October while police now investigate his killing. Britney Gordon for News Five.
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