2 weeks ago
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Cassian Billary was today handed down a life sentenced for the December 4, 2020, murder of Micah Baltazar, 19, an unemployed of Kraal Road, Belize City. Baltazar was gunned down after he was lured to his death by friends who planned to kill him.
One of those friends and the only man police had arrested and charged for murder was Cassian Billary. Baltazar’s “so called” friends told him he being taken to meet a girl but in actual fact they were going to kill him.
Despite claiming he did the murder under duress, Justice Candace Nanton in finding the Billary guilty told him that duress is not an excuse for murder, but today she looked at his defense of duress as a mitigating factor.
The judge started her sentence at 30 years but after deduction for mitigating and aggravating factors, and 4 years 10 months on remand which was given back to him, Billary only has to serve 20 years 2 months behind bars. During his mitigation plea, the court heard from a neighborhood friend of Billary’s, Shericia Reneau, who spoke well of him. She told the court that she knew Billary for his entire life as a respectable young man who was always willing to help and never knew him as no troublemaker and so she asked the court for leniency on his behalf.
Justice Nanton listed the mitigating and aggravating factors of the offense and the offender in coming to her starting point of 30 years. She also considered that she felt he was under duress to commit the murder because he was apart or a gang; his unblemished record, having no previous convictions for murder or similar offenses; his four years 10 months on remand also played a significant part in his sentencing.
English (US) ·