Former landlord killed Italian-Dutch woman and young girl in Belize; Fundraiser started

The victims of a fatal shooting in Belize last week were an Italian-Dutch woman, Laura Lopes, and her neighbor's 11-year-old daughter. Lopes and her family had recently moved to the Central American country. She was eating ice cream with her husband, two children, and the young neighbor when a former landlord gunned them down at a local market. Laura and the neighbor girl died, and the two Lopes children were injured, close friends told RTL Nieuws.

The Italian-born woman lived in the Netherlands for 15 years, where she met her husband, Salvo Lopes. They had their two children, Sarah (11) and Tristan (7), and were married in Sicily. They moved together to Malta, Mexico, and finally, Belize.

“What we know so far is that it appears to be the old landlord,” Rene van de Meerakker told RTL Nieuws. His wife, Yaina Cadillo, was good friends with Laura. They spoke to the broadcaster just before flying to Belize to support the woman's widow and children.

“It is very surreal,” Van de Meerakker said. He said the former landlord had a chance encounter with Laura at the market. “They shook hands and chatted for several minutes. Everything seemed fine until he pulled out his gun, aimed at the father, and fired. He missed, reloaded his gun, and continued shooting. He actually chased them across the market. Laura and the girl from next door were shot dead. Both children were injured.”

Van de Meerakker and Cadillo said they were devastated. “Ever since we heard the news, we have been in shock,” Cadillo told the broadcaster. “Today may be a little better, but it is really very intense. We make a lot of video calls with Salvo and the children and try to stay strong.” Cadillo, who works in mental healthcare, said the children have clearly been traumatized. “During video calls, they spend most of the time staring into space. And Tristan is afraid of every sound. He also has nerve damage in his leg.”

“Our sadness is great, but it is nothing compared to theirs,” Van de Meerakker said. That’s why they’re traveling to Belize. “We want to support Salvo and the children as much as possible,” he said. “By being physically present there, but also by starting a GoFundMe.”

The couple hoped the crowdfunding platform could raise enough money to cover healthcare costs for the family. They were trying to obtain Belizean citizenship, and thus had not finalized their insurance prior to the shooting, the couple said. "Money is also needed to soon return Laura's body home from Belize to her dear parents, brothers and other relatives in her native Italy," the fundraiser stated.

Returning the woman's remains to Sicily "is really unaffordable," Van de Meerakker told RTL. "In addition, Laura was also a breadwinner with Salvo, so an income has been lost for the future of the family.” The couple hoped to raise 50,000 euros, and the total stood at just over 4,500 euros late on Tuesday afternoon.

Cadillo described Lopes as a cheerful and intelligent woman. “We met in Eindhoven when we worked at the same advertising agency. From colleagues, we became friends. I was there when she got married and was at the birth of her first child. I have a group of Latin American friends, and they also all loved her and are now devastated. Some of them did not speak Dutch very well. So Laura started learning Spanish to communicate with them. That says a lot about her.”

The suspect is a 59-year-old Haitian-American man. According to a police spokesperson in Belize, the shooter knew what he was doing and acted deliberately.

“The man accused the family of wanting to poison him,” Van de Meerakker told the broadcaster. “It’s really a matter of guessing his motives.”