BELIZE CITY COUPLE FINED AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO CONCEALMENT OF THEIR CHILD’S DEATH

November 06, 2009

A Belize City couple who had pleaded guilty to concealing the death of their child were each fined two thousand 500 dollars. They were given until November 20, 2010 to pay the fine. If they default they will serve six months in prison. Before she decided on the sentence, Justice Michelle Arana heard pleas for mitigation from two character witnesses for Watlow, Marinette Greg and Sandra Lisbey, both from the women’s Department and Shelter for Battered Women. Justice Arana also heard a plea for mitigation from attorney Phillip Palacio who represented Watlow and Tesecum.  In passing sentence Justice Arana said she took into consideration the fact that they pleaded guilty and saved the court time and money and that Tesecum had a previous conviction for loitering. Justice Arana said she will not give them a custodial sentence because they are the parents of five children. The ex-couple buried the body of their 18-month old son Jermaine Tesecum on August 17, 2004. They put the body in a pigtail bucket and buried the bucket in the back yard of their home on Riverside Street in St. Martin De Porres. Police did not discover the child’s body until June 26, 2008 when Waltow’s sister in law showed them where it was buried. Tesecum had given the police a caution statement in which he said he hit the child against a wall and the child stopped moving. Crown Counsel Christelle Wilson represented the prosecution.

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