Gangs kill missionary couple

Three missionaries, including a married couple from the US, were killed in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

Davy and Natalie Lloyd “were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed,” Natalie Lloyd’s father, Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, said in a Facebook post. “They went to Heaven together. Please pray for my family we desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well,” Baker said.

Mission director Jude Montis, 45, was also killed. All three worked for Missions in Haiti, Inc., which has been operated by Davy Lloyd’s parents for more than two decades, according to the group’s website.

“Davy and Natalie and Jude were shot and killed by the gang about 9 o’clock this evening,” Missions in Haiti said on its Facebook page on Friday. “We all are devastated.”

According to a police spokesperson, “the bandits entered the house and looted it before murdering the missionaries.”

Davy Lloyd, 23, had a “love for Haiti,” his father David Lloyd told CNN. “His first language was Creole. He used to tell us when he was little that someday he was going to be a missionary in Haiti.”

He and Natalie Lloyd, 21, were ambushed as they left church in Port-au-Prince on Thursday evening, according to David Lloyd.

The couple, who got married in 2022 and Jude Montis, were ambushed by the gunmen when all three people left a church, added the report.

The attack happened Thursday evening in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince, Lionel Lazarre, head of a Haitian police union, told The Associated Press.

In the previous post, the Missions in Haiti stated that all three were attacked by two separate armed groups, first by gunmen in three vehicles.

Following this, another group arrived and a gang member was shot dead. This led to the three missionaries trapped in the house, and in the gang war, all three people died.

“They are holed up in there, the gangs have shot all the windows out of the house and continued to shoot,” the post said.

However, a police spokesperson claimed that the gunmen entered the house and looted it before murdering the missionaries, adding that the gang then took the trucks, loaded everything they wanted and fled.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reviewed a video which showed Davy and Natalie’s bodies sprawled on the floor of the home. Also, Davy and Jude’s remains have been burned.

After the death, a State Department spokesperson said that they were aware of the matter.

“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” BBC quoted the spokesperson as saying, who added, “We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance.”

Meanwhile, Missouri Governor Mike Parson called the deaths “absolutely heart-breaking news”.

On Friday, to stabilise the nation, the White House called for the swift deployment of a Kenyan-led multinational force.

“The security situation in Haiti cannot wait,” BBC quoted a National Security Council spokesperson as saying. “Our hearts go out to the families of those killed as they experience unimaginable grief,” the spokesperson added.

(Picture Courtesy: Ben Baker, Facebook)