The University of Belize has announced the semi‑finalists for the fourth annual Prize for Investigative Journalism, recognising reporting that tackled some of the country’s most pressing issues.
Three investigations have been shortlisted:
News Five’s ‘Stella Maris Child Drowning’ by Paul Lopez, Hipolito Novelo, Darrel Moguel, George Tillett, Marion Ali and Joel Wesby.
‘Marine Protected Areas Are Everybody’s Business’ by Andre Habet and Marco Lopez of Climate Spotlight.
‘Taken: The Budna Abduction and the Police Cover-Up’ by Jules Vasquez, Brian Castillo and Denver Fairweather of Tropical Vision Ltd.
The winning team will receive BZ$10,000, while two finalist teams will each take home BZ$5,000.
Our investigation into the tragic death of six-year-old autistic student Gabriel Orellano went beyond reporting a drowning. It exposed systemic safety failures at Stella Maris School and gaps in accountability that had long gone unaddressed. As the lead reporter, Lopez, and the News Five team revealed that Gabriel’s case was not an isolated incident. Through exclusive interviews, including a sanitation worker who last saw Gabriel running along Freetown Road and a parent whose child had slipped off campus just weeks earlier, we uncovered prior security breaches, under-resourcing, broken fencing, insufficient wardens, and internal concerns that had not triggered urgent corrective action.
Lopez also tracked Gabriel’s final hours through surveillance footage. This intensified national outrage and raised serious questions about supervision, emergency response, and societal responsibility. The impact was immediate: the Ministry of Education launched a full investigation, committed to rebuilding and securing the campus with proper fencing, and announced structural reforms aimed at protecting vulnerable students. The story sparked a nationwide conversation about the safety of children with special needs and forced institutional acknowledgement that change was overdue.
The entries were reviewed by a panel of regional and international judges, including media professionals from the Caribbean and the United States.
The winner will be announced during a public ceremony on May 2nd at the House of Culture in Belize City.
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