Court orders fingerprinting of inmate in connection with cemetery stabbing case

Posted: Thursday, August 8, 2024. 9:10 pm CST.

By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Court on Wednesday granted an application by the prosecution to obtain fingerprints from an inmate linked to a brutal stabbing incident inside the Lord Ridge Cemetery. The request follows the discovery of partial fingerprints on a knife allegedly used in the attempted murder of a man in June.

The accused, 36-year-old Mark Anthony Stevens, was charged on June 11, 2024, with the attempted murder of Juan Carlos Rios Pineda, a 31-year-old Honduran national and call center agent. The incident occurred on the night of June 8, 2024, when Pineda was attacked and stabbed multiple times while walking his dog in the cemetery.

Superintendent Hector Rodriguez, representing the prosecution, submitted the application to the Magistrate in Court #6, requesting that Stevens be fingerprinted after he initially refused to cooperate with police in June. The court approved the request, but Stevens again resisted, refusing to provide his fingerprints despite the court order and putting up a physical fight.

The police were unable to obtain Stevens’ fingerprints during the first attempt, but the prosecution remains determined. A second attempt will be made at the Belize Central Prison.

According to the investigation, Pineda recognized his attacker as Stevens, who allegedly pursued him and inflicted multiple stab wounds. Despite attempts by Pineda’s landlord, Miguel Alamina, to intervene, Stevens managed to flee the scene and hide in the cemetery.

The police later recovered a long-sleeve shirt and a wooden-handled kitchen knife believed to have been used in the attack. Partial fingerprints were lifted from the knife, and investigators are now working to match them to Stevens, hoping to solidify the case against him.

Stevens is currently in custody, and the case continues to unfold as authorities push forward with efforts to obtain critical forensic evidence.

 

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