Missouri Rep. Ben Baker said two American Christian missionaries were killed in gang violence in Haiti on Thursday. Baker’s daughter, Natalie, was killed in the attack.
Davey Lloyd and Natalie Lloyd, full-time missionaries in Haiti, were shot and killed Thursday at 9 p.m., according to Missions in Haiti Inc. Baker posted about the attack on Facebook.
“My heart is shattered. I have never felt such pain before,” Baker wrote. “They have gone to heaven together. Please pray for my family. We really need strength. And please pray for Lloyd’s family. I have no other words right now.”
Mission in Haiti is a nonprofit Christian mission organization founded by David and Alicia Lloyd, which has been working in the Caribbean since 2000, according to the organization’s website. The couple’s son, Davy, and his wife, Natalie Lloyd (Baker), joined the mission organization after their wedding in June 2022, according to Natalie’s Instagram account.
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Davey and Natalie Lloyd, American missionaries working in Haiti, were killed in a gang attack on Thursday, said Natalie’s father, Missouri Rep. Ben Baker. (Ben Baker via Facebook)
According to the nonprofit organization, Davey, Natalie and several other children were attending a youth group meeting at the church on Thursday when they were “ambushed by a group of men in three trucks.”
“Davey was tied up, beaten and taken to a house, after which the gang got into our truck, loaded him up with whatever they wanted and left,” Mission in Haiti said in a social media post.
People flee their neighborhoods after armed gangs terrorized the Delmas 24 and Solino neighborhoods on the night of May 1 in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, May 2, 2024. (CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)
The group said “another gang” had gone to the scene “to see what was going on and whether they could help.”
“Nobody knew what they were doing, nobody knew what had happened, but one person was shot and killed and now this gang is in full attack mode,” Mission in Haiti said.
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Armed gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherisier and his men were spotted in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on March 5, 2024. (Clarence Shifroy/AFP via Getty Images)
Davey, Natalie, and another person named Jude were inside the house and reporting what was happening to Mission in Haiti via Starlink satellite internet. While they were hiding, the gang began firing at the house, according to Mission in Haiti.
The Haitian mission lost contact with the missionaries, and a few hours later the missionaries announced that Davey, Natalie and Jude had been killed in the attack.
The Haitian delegation and Senator Baker did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.
Former President Donald Trump also commented on the tragedy, posting on Truth Social: “God bless Davy and Natalie.”
“This is a tragedy. Haiti is completely out of control. Find the killers now!” Trump wrote.
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Haitian police officers deploy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 9, 2024. Sporadic gunfire rang out in Port-au-Prince late on March 8 as residents desperately sought shelter following a recent explosion of gang violence in the Haitian capital, an AFP correspondent on the ground heard. (CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)
Haiti, an island nation plagued by poverty, natural disasters and corruption, has been plunged into further chaos since Feb. 29, when gangs launched coordinated attacks, burning down police stations, opening fire on Haiti’s main international airport and storming Haiti’s two largest prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates. Haiti’s largest port also remains paralyzed as food, medicine and other vital supplies run out.
At least 1.4 million Haitians are on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
Gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherisier and his “G9 Family and Allies” claimed responsibility for the mass jailbreak and subsequent bloodshed that left at least nine people dead and forced the U.S. to issue an urgent warning to withdraw from Haiti “as soon as possible.” According to the Associated Press, more than 2,500 people were killed or injured in Haiti between January and March.
“BBQ” came to power after rival gang leaders Jolly “Yonyon” Jarmin and Eliande Tunis were arrested in Florida and convicted of armed kidnapping and ransom of 16 Americans and one Canadian, including five infants up to eight months old, during a mission trip to an orphanage in October 2021.
Gang war for control of Haiti puts US national security at great risk
President Biden and Kenyan President William Ruto sing the U.S. national anthem during a state arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Biden’s administration has agreed to contribute $300 million to a multinational force that includes 1,000 Kenyan police officers who are being deployed to Haiti to restore law and order.
“Haiti is in the Caribbean and it’s a very volatile situation,” Biden said Thursday at a news conference with Kenyan President William Ruto. “There’s a lot going on in this hemisphere, so we’re in a situation where we want to do everything we can to ensure that it doesn’t look like the United States is once again stepping in and deciding that this is what we have to do.”
The main international airport in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, reopened on Monday for the first time since March, but the seaport remains closed. Gangs control 80% of the capital, according to the Associated Press.
The US government, along with non-profit groups working in the besieged capital, evacuated hundreds of civilians by helicopter who fled the violence.
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The United States has been flying military planes over Haiti in recent weeks and landing at Toussaint Louverture airport in preparation for the arrival of foreign troops.
“I can assure you that the deployment will take place in the coming days and weeks,” Kenya’s Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Korir Sinonei, said on Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
