A US missionary couple were among three people killed in Haiti amid ongoing gang violence plaguing the country. Natalie Lloyd, 21, her 23-year-old husband David, and 20-year-old Haitian Jude Montis were ambushed by gunmen as they left a church.
The deaths of the couple were confirmed on Facebook by Natalie’s father, Missouri State Senator Ben Baker. “They were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed,” he wrote. “They went to heaven together.” The couple had been married since 2022.
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Their organization, Missions in Haiti, confirmed to US media that Mr. Montis was the third victim. In an earlier Facebook post, the organization described the attack, stating that the three were first ambushed by gunmen in three vehicles. When another armed group arrived, a gang member was shot dead, leading to the missionaries being trapped in a house under heavy gunfire.
Missions in Haiti confirmed that all three were dead three hours later.
The US State Department acknowledged the deaths and offered condolences to the families. Missouri Governor Mike Parson described the deaths as “absolutely heartbreaking news” on X/Twitter.
In response to the deteriorating security situation, the White House on Friday called for the swift deployment of a Kenyan-led multinational force to stabilize Haiti. A National Security Council spokesperson emphasized that the security situation in Haiti “cannot wait,” noting President Joe Biden’s support for the “expedited deployment” of the force in talks with Kenya’s president on Thursday. “Our hearts go out to the families of those killed as they experience unimaginable grief,” the spokesperson added.
Kenyan President William Ruto, in an interview with the BBC, cited such incidents as a driving reason for his country’s decision to deploy forces to Haiti. “We shouldn’t be losing people. We shouldn’t be losing missionaries. It is the reason why we made this decision,” he said, stressing the shared responsibility for Haiti’s security. “We are doing this to forestall and to stop more people losing their lives to gangs,” he added.
This tragedy echoes a similar incident in 2021 when 17 North American missionaries were kidnapped and held east of Port-au-Prince.
