Convicted Killers of Hardware Store Owner Appeal Life Sentences

Brandon Hughes and Jose Gomez, who were convicted of killing 75-year-old hardware store owner Oscar Rosado Sr. during a 2018 robbery, are now appealing their sentences. The duo was sentenced to life in prison in 2023 after Rosado Sr. was fatally shot during an armed robbery right in front of his wife of 48 years. During the incident, as many as 17 shots were fired. Two bullets struck Rosado Sr. in the head, killing him instantly. Hughes is alleged to have pulled the trigger, while Gomez stood by and did nothing to help the victim. Now represented by Attorney Orson “OJ” Elrington, both men appeared in court today hoping to have their convictions overturned. But Rosado’s son, Oscar Rosado Jr., stood firm in opposition. He made an emotional plea to the appellate judges, saying, “My dad is dead. At least they have life.” He insisted the evidence is clear and urged the court to send the men back to prison. In an interview, Attorney Elrington said his role isn’t to be swayed by emotion but to ensure that no man spends life in prison without solid legal grounds.

Orson Elrington, Attorney: “Mr. Rosado and  of course it is, it is.the murder of anybody is absolutely regrettable and so he is a loved one and he is absolutely entitled to his emotions and  opinion on these matters.  However, as legal practitioners, we have to divorce ourselves from theemotions oh of it and what we need to ensure and what the  Court of Appeal will need to  convince themselves of is that whether or not  the conviction  is a safe one in law.  All right. And so ultimately,  while it is that you would have a victim,  what you would not want is for  an innocent person  to spend effectively their lives in prison  because of  a mistake  from  a judge.  Again,  as I would have  related in the Court of Appeal is that  that is one of the beauties of our democracy that we  know that we have some of the most eminently qualified judges, highest character of judges  and  that  we assure that they go about things  in a most judicious way.  However,  they’re human beings and human beings are subject to making errors.  And hence why you have a Court of Appeal  to determine whether or not a decision made by a judge  is one  which  we can safely rely on  to say that a person has been convicted.”

Both men were escorted back to Belize Central Prison where they await a decision from the high court.