Two U.S. Christian missionaries killed in a brutal armed gang attack Thursday in Haiti were the daughter and son-in-law of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, the lawmaker said in a Facebook post.
Davy and Natalie Lloyd "were attacked by gangs this evening and were both killed," Baker wrote in the post. "They went to Heaven together.
"My heart is broken in a thousand pieces. I've never felt this kind of pain. 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."
Haiti has been roiled by violence since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. Its most recent prime minister resigned March 11, KOAN reported. An April report from the United Nations said the first quarter of 2024 was the deadliest for Haitians with about 2,500 people killed or injured in gang violence.
"Some of the worst scenarios for Haiti have become realities in recent months and weeks," said María Isabel Salvador, head of the UN's Integrated Office in Haiti, citing gang attacks targeting police stations, prisons, schools, hospitals, and religious sites in Port-au-Prince, KOAN reported.
The FBI and State Department are offering up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Vitel'Homme Innocent, who allegedly killed one of nearly 20 missionaries his gang took hostage in 2022.
"Our resolve to bring him to account for his alleged crimes will not waver," the State Dept. said in a release, the outlet reported.
The Lloyds were married in 2022, according to Baker's social media post, CNN reported, and worked for Missions in Haiti, Inc., which has been operated by Davy Lloyd's parents for more than two decades, according to the group's website.
"This evening when Davy, Natalie and the kids were coming out of Youth at the church they were ambushed by a gang of 3 trucks full of guys," the organization posted on its Facebook page, CNN reported. "Davy was taken to the house tied up and beat. The gang then took our trucks and loaded everything up they wanted and left."
Three hours later, Missions in Haiti posted that Davy and Natalie Lloyd "were shot and killed by the gang about 9 o'clock this evening. We all are devastated," CNN reported.
CNN noted the Facebook feed of Missions in Haiti has recorded increasingly dire conditions in the country, writing last month: "The gangs are still fighting for more control and chaos rules. It seems the world has turned their backs on Haiti and it is going to be left in complete gang control."