A Saturday night attack in Unitedville has shattered one family twice over. Twin brothers Denvoy and Delroy Bartley were standing along the roadside when a gunman reportedly emerged from nearby bushes and opened fire. Denvoy, just twenty-five years old, was killed, while Delroy survived and remains in stable condition. Tonight, police are trying to determine what triggered the deadly ambush. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
A family in Unitedville was preparing to celebrate a birthday. Instead, they are now planning a funeral. Twin brothers Delroy and Denvoy Bartley were shot just one day before their mother’s birthday, leaving Denvoy dead and Delroy wounded. As a part of the ongoing investigation, police formally arrested and charged twenty-year-old Kevan Anthony Alford, a Belizean construction worker of Unitedville, Cayo District. Police say they believe the motive may be tied to an ongoing dispute over drugs.
Stacy Smith
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
“ Police have formally arrested and charged twenty-year-old Kevon Anthony Alford of Unitedville village, Caner District, for the crimes of murder, attempted murder, use of deadly means of harm, and wounding in connection with the ongoing investigation into the murder of twenty-five-year-old Denvoy Bartley and the shooting injury of Deltoy Bartley. The investigation commenced at approximately eight thirty-four p.m. on Saturday twenty-fifth July 2026 in Unitedville village. The investigators reported that they responded to reports of shots being fired, and what they have learned so far in the course of the investigation is that both Denvoy and Delroy Bartley were along with another male person in front of a residence in Unitedville village when a male person emerged from nearby bushes and fired a number of shots, resulted in the fatal injury of Denvoy Bartley and the injury of Delroy Bartley.”
The brothers had traveled to Unitedville on Saturday to help prepare for their mother’s birthday celebration the next day. But those plans were shattered by tragedy. A neighbor and close family friend said she heard gunshots ring out nearby, unaware at the time that the victims of the attack were her friends.
Voice of: Family Friend
“He was here with we Saturday, day and night. He come to chill with we. Come to celebrate her, his mom birthday, and asked Miss Abigail to make a cake and cook the chicken for him. And, like, after eight-thirty while I was sleeping, I was in my bed already trying to sleep. I heard that the gunshot happened, like one up the yard. Then after that, pop, pop, pop and all you hear, and then they, they say the young man got over the young man and shot ah.”
Police say Bartley had been on their radar before, following a 2023 charge for the murder of twenty-four-year-old Lionel Lee Budna. However, he was later acquitted of the charge in 2024 after a nolle prosequi was entered. ASP Stacy Smith says police have increased their presence in the community.
ASP Stacy Smith
“There has been a number of strategic operations. I know a tactical team was deployed in that area. You would also know that after the last incident, I cannot recall the gentleman’s name, but the officers were able to make an interception of a vehicle of interest and a recovery of two firearms, so that speaks to the department’s tactical posture and, as you can see, the response in terms of the arrests with this most recent incident. So in addition to arranging our tactical response, I must say that we have liaised with community members who are adamant about wanting this type of activity outside of their neighborhood, and we have been liaising with them and sharing with them as it relates to investing in technology that has played a role in bringing this investigation to the state that it is now.”
Kevan Anthony Alford
Bartley’s family friend says the brothers were well known in the community as they often visited to care for their ailing mother. She said some neighbors, herself included, saw the brothers as family.
Voice of: Family Friend
“He was running joke with me and my boy, we were going to shop. He say, no ker yo gyal da no shop with yo. Go by yourself. I tell ah, Why? We going with he. And after he tell my bralee and my boyfriend that he love ney and thing. Mek we take care of ourselves and he gone and ask we fi ah lee five dollars and we give ah the five dollars the day. Come ask me for the money and we give he the money. Never know that mi wa be the last of him.”
In addition to murder, and attempted Alford was additionally charged with attempted murder in relation to Albert Bennett. Britney Gordon for News Five.
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