Brother of imprisoned military veteran in Belize calls for safe return

The family of J.R. Smith, locked up in a Belize prison for nearly two weeks, is hoping the Canadian government steps up for the military veteran charged with murder in a mass shooting at a nightclub.

"It's really been a nightmare for us, and I've been talking to him. I did have the liberty and the luxury of talking to him. He did want us to get his story out," said his brother Derrick Smith.

"It's not within the character of my brother. If he were aware of any of this happening, he would have done everything he could to stop it."

Smith said his brother was outside Wabinaha nightclub on July 31 when he told him that he heard about 40 gunshots nearby. That's when people came rushing toward his truck.

"There was a woman and a child there and a few teenagers," said Derrick. "He rushed them into his truck as quickly as he could; while getting them into the truck and going over to the driver's seat, he noticed that there were other people running out."

"They started jumping on the side of his truck and into the box of his truck. He waited for people to get in, and he started to drive away to make sure to get everybody to safety."

Belize Police said J.R. was behind the wheel of a getaway car that night, alleging he helped his friends, who are also charged with murder, flee the scene.

Hours later, J.R. told his girlfriend and brother he was arrested and beaten with a plastic bag over his head.

His family said Smith was taken to the hospital after he was kicked in the stomach. He had undergone an emergency appendectomy weeks earlier.

His family claims J.R. is innocent and is being targeted.

"I believe that they've actually upped the charges from abetment to murder because aiding and abetting is actually a bailable offence, and they didn't want him to get out to try and fight this," said Smith.

"They wanted to keep him behind bars so that way he has no ability to fight, so that's why we're trying to do everything we can from here in Canada to defend him."

Smith said during the arrest, J.R.'s home was ransacked, and 40,000 Belize dollars he had set aside to build a house there was taken from him.

J.R.'s family has launched a social media campaign called justice for J.R. They are hoping to raise awareness and money to secure his release and bring him home.

After serving in Afghanistan, J.R. retired and settled in New Lowell.

He studied woodworking at Georgian College before starting his own small business, Frontline Cabinetry, mentoring retiring military members in skilled trades through a partnership with Canadian Forces Base Borden.

Smith's girlfriend said he became disillusioned with the Canadian government during the pandemic and, because of repeated lockdowns and restrictions, had to close his business.

He left for Belize in March, where he planned to start a new life in the Central American country.

His next court appearance is in early November.