On Wednesday, December 20th, Delson and Tionne Paguada were convicted at the High Court in Belize City for the 2018 murder of Jimell Paul Jex in San Pedro Town. Delson was sentenced to 24 years, and his younger brother Tionne to 21 years.
During the court hearing, the brothers were escorted by several members of the elite police unit GI3 to ensure safety. The Paguadas were heavily shackled from waist to feet and handcuffed before being placed in the convict box before Justice Nigel Pilgrim. The Judge imposed a 30-year fixed sentence upon Delson and Tionne. Justice Pilgrim considered aggravating and mitigating factors. He explained that there was evidence of premeditation in the broad daylight murder of Jimell Paul Jex. At the end of the sentence, the judge gave Delson 24 years and Tionne 21 years to serve in prison. While they serve their time in prison, Delson will continue to face another murder charge related to the shooting death of American tourist, 23, J’Bria Michelle, who was fatally shot on December 30, 2022, by the Central Park in downtown San Pedro.
The Paguada brothers were found guilty of Jex’s murder on July 24th at the same court. The Paguadas had been serving time at the Kolbe Foundation-Belize Central Prison along with Timothy Carcamo, also accused of the murder. On judgment day, Carcamo was acquitted of the crime due to identification issues. The trial moved to sentence after a primary witness in the case identified the Paguada brothers as the people who killed Jex.
Jex was shot five times at the entrance of the San Pedrito Subdivision on January 23, 2018. In the deadly incident, another man named Dion Neal was shot but survived. The Paguada brothers fought the case, maintaining their innocence and claiming they were not on the island when the fatal shooting occurred.
The duo is well known to police in San Pedro, particularly Delson, who has been remanded to the central prison several times. Delson was charged with the murder of Jerry Espat in October 2021 and, most recently, the incident involving the American tourist. Police maintain the tourist was never the intended target.
The Paguadas are back at the Belize Central Prison, where they are expected to be for over two decades.
