Davy (age 23) and Natalie (age 21) Lloyd (right) are among the latest victims of ongoing gang violence in Haiti. Missions in Haiti, Inc. – based in Claremore, Oklahoma – is unable to provide more details at this time, only confirming the young couple's deaths and that of Jude Montis (age 20), the organization's Haitian director.
Natalie is the daughter of Missouri State Rep. Ben Baker, who posted late Thursday night on Facebook that Natalie and his son-in-law Davy were full-time missionaries in the island nation. They would have celebrated their second wedding anniversary on June 18.
"My heart is broken in a thousand pieces. I've never felt this kind of pain," Baker posted. "They went to heaven together. Please pray for my family … we desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well. I have no other words for now."
The mission agency posted an urgent prayer request just hours before, reporting the missionaries were under siege after being ambushed by "a gang of 3 trucks full of guys" – then being "holed up" as gangs shot out the windows of the property. (See image of post here)
As The Associated Press notes, the slayings occurred as the capital crumbles under the relentless assault of violent gangs that control 80% of Port-au-Prince while authorities await the arrival of a police force from Kenya as part of a U.N.-backed deployment aimed at quelling gang violence in the troubled Caribbean country. It wasn't immediately clear which gang or gangs were responsible for the fatal shootings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
