Missouri lawmaker says his daughter and her husband were killed in Haiti while working as missionaries
The daughter and son-in-law of Missouri House of Representatives member Ben Baker were killed while serving as missionaries in Haiti, the politician said on social media.
Baker's daughter, Natalie Lloyd, and her husband Davy Lloyd were full-time missionaries in the country, the Republican state representative said. Davy Lloyd's sister Hannah Cornett told the Associated Press that she and her brother were raised in Haiti. Davy Lloyd moved to the U.S. to attend college. The couple married in 2022, according to Cornett, and the pair quickly moved to Haiti to do humanitarian work.
Baker said that the two were "attacked by gangs" on Thursday evening. The shooting took place in the Lizon area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital city.
Baker wrote that his heart was "broken in a thousand pieces."
"I've never felt this kind of pain," Baker said, asking for prayers for both families and adding that he had "no other words for now."
Missions in Haiti, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Oklahoma that has been working in Haiti since 2000, said on social media that the Lloyds, as well as a third missionary identified as Jude Montis, were "shot and killed" while holed up in a house at around 9 p.m. local time Thursday.
David Lloyd, Davy's father and the founder of the mission group who works in the country full-time with his wife Alicia, told CBS' Tulsa affiliate KOTV Friday that his son was ambushed by "three pickup loads of guys that were waiting." Lloyd said the gang "drug him in the house, beat him, and tied him up, and began to loot the house."
Those gang members eventually left. And Montis, who the Associated Press identified as a father of two and the local director of the missionary group, responded to the home to help. But then, a second gang showed up, and gunfire erupted, David Lloyd said.
"Davy, Natalie and Jude barricaded themselves in our home down there, but then the gangs just started shooting up the place, eventually busted the door down, and went in and shot them and killed them," Lloyd said.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the two U.S. citizens killed by gangs in Haiti," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement provided to CBS News, disclosing that the U.S. ambassador to Haiti "is in touch" with the victims' families.
Baker said on social media that the Lloyds' bodies had been safely brought to the U.S. Embassy.
"Unfortunately, this serves as a reminder that the security situation in Haiti cannot wait – too many innocent lives are being lost," Miller added. "During Kenyan President Ruto's visit yesterday, President Biden reiterated the United States' commitment to support the expedited deployment of the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission to bolster the Haitian National Police's capabilities to protect civilians, restore the rule of law, and pave the way to democratic governance."
Haiti has been roiled by gang violence since late February when heavily armed gangs launched a unified attack on government institutions and infrastructure. The U.S. government arranged evacuation flights for American citizens. More than 2,500 people have been killed, injured or kidnapped in the country since the violence began, and deadly violence in the country is at a "record high," according to the United Nations.
Last month, Ariel Henry resigned as prime minister and a new transitional council was sworn in.
