_{Sergio Andino, deceased}

By Charles Gladden

BLACKMAN EDDY, Cayo District, Thurs. Aug. 14, 2025

A man was chopped to death in Blackman Eddy Village, Cayo District, in the early hours of Thursday, August 14, by a homeowner who caught him and an accomplice breaking into his home. 

A little after midnight, the occupants of the home – 70-year-old Patricia Ireland, 65-year-old Nadia Ireland, and 57-year-old Eustace Emmanuel Ireland – were sleeping at the residence when two burglars, one reportedly armed with a handgun and the other with a machete, entered their house and attacked them.

A struggle ensued between the burglar with the machete and Eustace, and at that point his accomplice with the gun fled from the scene. While that was taking place, Nadia successfully stripped the robber of his machete and fatally wounded him.

When police arrived at the residence, the motionless body lay on the ground. The deceased robber was later identified as 25-year-old Sergio Nigel Andino, a construction worker of San Ignacio Town.

_{The victims residence}

“We can always imagine if someone got killed … and when things like this happen, whether it’s good or bad, or whether it’s the bad guy or the good person. In this case it was the bad guy, which I’m grateful for; but things could have been a lot worse, so at this point I’m happy that my family survived the ordeal with minimal hurt,” said the nephew of the victims.

“… It’s your property, and being in your property, I would always think that you will do so … fight for your life; because it’s my property, it belongs to me, or anyone else, and you have no right in my place. I would’ve done what she did to put up a good fight, and she did. I’m grateful for that, because probably if she didn’t do that, the thing would have been changed; someone else would probably have gotten hurt,” he added.

He believes that the men gained access to the home by using a step ladder that was outside a nearby house to climb through an open window leading into Patricia’s bedroom.

He also noted that prior to the incident, the family felt safe in their home.

“We’re living in the village, and this doesn’t happen all the time! She was even sleeping with the window ajar, meaning it’s pretty much safe, or nothing has been planned like this before in life,” he mentioned.

All three victims suffered minor injuries and were treated at the Western Regional Hospital, after which they were released.