By Breaking Belize News Staff: Approximately 40 mental patients who have been charged with various crimes, many of them violent offenses, are currently on remand at the Belize Central Prison, due to the absence of any institution equipped to properly care for them. All of them are awaiting psychiatric evaluations but there is currently no Government psychiatrist on staff to conduct the assessments and as such many mental patients have been on remand for months, and at least in once instance, over a year.
Chief Executive Officer of the Belize Central Prison, Virgilio Murillo, confirmed with Breaking Belize News (BBN) that the problem has worsened over the last three to four years, as psychiatrists who previously worked within the public system, have since transitioned into more lucrative private practices. BBN also contacted Minister of Health & Wellness Kevin Bernard and Director of Public Health & Wellness, Dr. Melissa Diaz-Musa. Musa said she was not apprised on the situation and could not make any comment.
Recently, however, a clear and troubling pattern has emerged in court proceedings involving defendants who have either been confirmed or alleged to suffer from varying mental conditions. At least five such cases have gone to court just in the last two weeks.
Paulino Jaime was brought to court on March 26th after spending a whole year on remand awaiting a psychiatric evaluation that was never conducted. He had been charged for harming his mother and later claimed he had heard “voices” and “spirits” that told him to commit the act. Magistrate Mannon Dennison determined that any further incarceration under these circumstances would be unjust and accepted his guilty plea, handing down a 6-month sentence to a man who had already served a year in prison. After receiving sentencing, Jaime was free to go, leaving behind dozens of other mental patients at the Belize Central Prison currently trapped in the same cycle. During his court appearance, Jaime also claimed that he had not been receiving any medication for his illness while on remand.
On March 30, two mental patients were also brought to court, both of whom have also been on remand for months pending psychiatric evaluations that have yet still not been conducted.
A Belizean-American from Placencia, Brandon Rogers, was brought to court after months on remand for an indictable offense but has yet still not been arraigned due to his pending psychiatric evaluation. Rogers was granted bail but because he was unable to meet conditions for his bail, he remains in custody at the Belize Central Prison. Rogers could not secure bail because his only known relative is an aunt that lives in the U.S. who he has so far been unable to reach.
On that same day, a Honduran mental patient accused of assaulting a police officer, Harold Palma, was brought to court. Similarly to Rogers’ case, Palma has also not yet been arraigned pending a psychiatric evaluation. He also remains on remand at the Belize Central Prison. This follows two other cases involving mental patients who were brought to court after months on remand but have still not been arraigned due to pending psychiatric evaluations.
One of those two others is the case of Kareem Anderson, who was recorded on surveillance footage violently punching two women to the ground in two separate instances last December. Anderson remains on remand pending his psych evaluation as does Richard Cherrington, who was charged for attacking a man with a fork. Both Anderson and Cherrington have been on remand since December 2025.
Dozens more mental patients remain on remand at the Belize Central Prison pending psychiatric evaluations with none schedule to be conducted anytime soon. For now, their only hope is to have their families conduct those evaluations privately or for the court to determine that any further incarceration due to a lack of Government resources is unjust, such as in the Paulino Jaime case.
For years, as cases of mental illness seemingly continue to rise, Belizeans have clamored for a mental health institution with the capacity to care for patients adequately before they spiral out of control rather than sending them to prison after the fact. This trend also brings into focus the case of Nyerere Parchue, a mentally ill patient who was remanded to the Belize Central Prison on a number of violent offenses last year, but attempted to escape in August 2025 and was shot by a watchtower guard. After being shot and falling off the prison’s perimeter fence, Parchue is now cripple for life.
The post Over 40 mentally ill persons on remand in prison for months awaiting psychiatric evaluations but with no GOB psychiatrist to conduct assessments mental patients remain trapped in the system appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: Approximately 40 mental patients who have been charged with various crimes, many of them violent offenses, are currently on remand at the Belize Central Prison, due to the absence of any institution equipped to properly care for them. All of them are awaiting psychiatric evaluations but there is currently no
The post Over 40 mentally ill persons on remand in prison for months awaiting psychiatric evaluations but with no GOB psychiatrist to conduct assessments mental patients remain trapped in the system appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
