Over the past three years, two police officers have allegedly been accidentally killed with their own service pistols in San Pedro Town. Both were fatally shot after midnight while socializing. One incident took place in January 2019 involving Corporal Alfonso Guy, and recently Police Superintendent Henry Jemmott was shot dead with his service weapon. While both incidents seem to be parallel, the repercussions for the accused have been different, with one remanded for murder while the other shooter was charged with the lesser crime; Manslaughter by Negligence.

Guy's, 51, was fatally shot in the early hours of January 11, 2019, in his apartment in the San Juan Area of San Pedro. According to then Officer in Charge on the island Superintendent Reymundo Reyes, Alfonso was socializing with a gentleman named Danilo Villatoro. Reyes told the media that Villatoro had been playing with Guy's issued service gun when he allegedly pulled the trigger. (https://www.sanpedrosun.com/crime-a...-for-the-murder-of-corporal-alfonso-guy/ . Three days later, Villatoro was arraigned for Murder) at the Belize City Magistrate Court. He continues to serve time at the Kolbe Foundation-Belize Central Prison in Hattieville.

The second cop shot dead with his own service weapon took place coincidentally after midnight as well. Still, this incident sent shockwaves beyond Belize's borders and attracted the attention of the international press. Jasmine Hartin, the mother of two and partner of Andrew Ashcroft, son of well-known British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, is at the Belize Central Prison for the shooting death of Superintendent 42-year-old Henry Jemmott. The pair were socializing at a pier in front of a beach resort south of downtown San Pedro in the early hours of May 28th when she accidentally shot Jemmott in the head with his issued service pistol. . On Monday, May 31st, to the surprise of many, Hartin was charged with the lesser charge of Manslaughter by Negligence. On Wednesday, June 9th in Belize City, Hartin's attorney will, for the third time, attempt to get her out with a Supreme Court bail.

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