{"id":9874,"date":"2024-05-25T08:09:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T08:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9874"},"modified":"2024-05-25T08:09:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T08:09:05","slug":"us-missionaries-killed-in-haiti-gang-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=9874","title":{"rendered":"US missionaries killed in Haiti gang violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 30 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

A US missionary couple were among three people killed in Haiti as widespread gang violence continues to plague the country.<\/p>\n

Natalie Lloyd, 21, her 23-year-old husband David, and Jude Montis, a 20-year-old Haitian, were ambushed by gunmen as they left a church.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s deaths were confirmed on Facebook by Natalie\u2019s father, Missouri State Senator Ben Baker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThey went to heaven together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple were married in 2022.<\/p>\n

Their organization, Missions in Haiti, confirmed to US media that Mr Montis was the third victim.<\/p>\n

In an earlier Facebook post, the organization said that the three were attacked by two separate armed groups, beginning with an attack by gunmen in three vehicles.<\/p>\n

After another group arrived and a gang member was shot dead, the three missionaries were trapped in a house while the gang went \u201cinto full attack mode\u201d, the post added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are holed up in there, the gangs have shot all the windows out of the house and continued to shoot,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n

Missions in Haiti confirmed that all three were dead three hours later.<\/p>\n

The State Department is aware of the deaths, a spokesperson told the BBC\u2019s US partner, CBS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

On X\/Twitter, Missouri Governor Mike Parson called the deaths \u201cabsolutely heart-breaking news\u201d.<\/p>\n

The White House on Friday called for the swift deployment of a Kenyan-led multinational force to stabilize the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe security situation in Haiti cannot wait,\u201d said a National Security Council spokesperson, adding that President Joe Biden had pledged to support the \u201cexpedited deployment\u201d of the force in talks with Kenya\u2019s president on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts go out to the families of those killed as they experience unimaginable grief,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n

In a similar incident in 2021, 17 North American missionaries were kidnapped and held east of Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n

Five were released and 12 ultimately escaped by using stars for navigation to trek through dense bush.<\/p>\n

Missions in Haiti has been operating in the country since 2000, and is largely focused on helping Haitian children.<\/p>\n

For weeks, gangs had been carrying out deadly co-ordinated attacks, demanding the resignation of the then Prime Minister Ariel Henry.<\/p>\n

He agreed to step down in March. Nine members of the transitional council have now been sworn in to lead the country.<\/p>\n

But the gangs have capitalized on the power vacuum left by Mr Henry\u2019s exit and expanded their control over large swathes of the country.<\/p>\n

Kenya is due to deploy police forces to Haiti at the head of an international force aimed at helping the country\u2019s transitional authorities restore order.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the UN children\u2019s agency, UNICEF, warned that the violence and widespread malnutrition have brought Haiti\u2019s health system to \u201cthe verge of collapse\u201d.<\/p>

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A US missionary couple were among three people killed in Haiti as widespread gang violence continues to plague the country. Natalie Lloyd, 21, her 23-year-old husband David, and Jude Montis,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}