HOSPITALIZED SUSPECT TO FACE ID PARADE
ST ANN’S BAY, St Ann; Feb. 5, 2025
Mayor Michael Belnavis is back at his desk two weeks after he was chopped in the head in an incident that has left several still unanswered questions. The Mayor is recovering well and thanking hospital staff and well wishers.
A suspect in the incident that took place Monday night, January 20, 2025, which led to the Mayor being hospitalized briefly is to face an identification parade this week. Up to Tuesday, the man was still in the St Ann’s Bay Hospital, in police custody.
Mr Belnavis, chairman of the St Ann Municipal Corporation (SAMC), returned to his office on Tuesday, February 4, and has been doing routine duties, including attending committee meetings.
Councillors attending those meetings have said the matter of the Mayor’s injuries and the incident at an apartment he owns near Oracabessa, St Mary were not discussed or mentioned. “I think it was weird that he didn’t make a statement to us and nobody asked those questions,” said a councillor who spoke to the North Coast Times on condition he not be identified.
Police have been under pressure to provide details on the incident because Mr Belnavis is a public officials and a gun was reportedly discharged. Police in St Mary have been asked several times by the North Coast Times and other media but have not been providing any information. Acting Superintendent Anthony Wallace who heads the St Mary police has no comment. Head of the St Ann police, SSP Dwight Powell told the North Coast Times that the matter is not in his jurisdiction, aside from the St Ann police providing security at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital.
( Head of St Mary police DSP Anthony Wallace)
Mr Belnavis sought assistance at that facility on the night of the attack and on the following day was admitted there after reporting g pain and discomfort. Police said the suspect in the wounding of Mr Belnavis was admitted at the St Ann’s Bay Hospital, Monday night when turned up there with a gunshot wound to the chest. Details of how he ended up there are in dispute.
Reports are that Mr Belnavis went to the unoccupied, partly furnished apartment at about 11 p.m. and saw a man there, sitting on a sofa watching television. It is reported that on another occasion he had chased the man off the property.
(SSP Dwight Powell, commanding officer St Ann — not in his jurisdiction)
Mr Belnavis reportedly told the intruder to get out of the apartment. The man attacked him with a machete, chopping him on the head and hand. Mr Belnavis pulled a firearm and fired hitting the man. With blood streaming down his face and the man still advancing, Belnavis fled and drove some 15 miles to St Ann’s Bay Hospital.
Police say they got a report Wednesday, January 22, from Mr Belnavis. Police sources in St Mary say they have said little about the suspect as they do not want the ID Parade compromised.
