A gang attack on an Oklahoma-based missionary group operating in Haiti’s capital on Thursday night left the daughter of a Missouri state congressman, her husband and a third member of the group dead, the group’s founder said.
Full-time missionary David Lloyd III and his wife, Natalie, were killed in a gang attack Thursday evening, Lloyd’s mother said in an interview Friday.
Alicia Lloyd, who founded Mission in Haiti with her husband David Lloyd in 2000, confirmed the deaths of her son, David Lloyd III, known as “Davey,” 23, and his wife, Natalie Lloyd, 21. Natalie Lloyd is the daughter of Missouri Congressman Ben Baker, who also announced the couple’s deaths in a statement on his Facebook page.
The identity of the third person killed was not immediately known.
Alicia Lloyd said when her son called to say he and his home were under attack, he was crying and fearing for his life.
“He had already suffered an assault at the hands of a gang of men who had entered the compound,” she said in an interview.
The gang members then took the organization’s vehicles and other items and left, she said.
Alicia Lloyd said after her son was beaten he was released and neighbours came to check on him, but then a second gang showed up and things took a turn, she said.
“That’s when he, his wife and one of our Haitian employees who’s been with us for 20 years” barricaded themselves in one of the organization’s small houses for two or three hours, she said.
“This gang is now in all-out attack mode,” the group said in a post on its Facebook page before the three were killed.
According to a Facebook post from the group, the couple and another longtime member of the group called in via satellite internet connection to describe what was happening.
The post went on to say that the gang had shot out all the windows in the house and had tried unsuccessfully to get a police armored vehicle to evacuate the missionaries to safety. The group tried to negotiate with the gang, offering money to release the trio, but communication was lost, it concluded.
In a separate statement posted to its Facebook page hours later, the group said the three were killed around 9 p.m.
Alicia Lloyd said gang members set fire to the house, broke down the door and shot and killed the Lloyds and another longtime employee.
Haiti has been in turmoil for decades, increasingly dominated by gangs who take over much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, including police stations. Gang violence reached unprecedented levels after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021. The first quarter of 2024 was the country’s deadliest, with nearly 2,500 people killed or injured in gang violence, according to the United Nations. Haiti’s main international airport, Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port-au-Prince, reopened on Monday for the first time in nearly three months after gang violence forced authorities to close it in early March.
A National Security Council spokesman said he was aware of reports of the deaths of U.S. citizens in Haiti and that President Joe Biden supports multinational efforts to stabilize Haiti and protect its people.
“Our hearts go out to the families of the victims who are experiencing unimaginable grief,” the spokesman said.
Alicia Lloyd said that until recently, all the roads around the facility were closed so no one could leave, and Haitian missions had to smuggle supplies to the orphanage.
Still, she said she was in shock and disbelief Friday. She was in Haiti at the time of the attack and her husband had only left the day before to return to the United States, she said.
David Lloyd III grew up in Haiti and loved the Haitian people, his mother said, and at age 18 he went to the United States to attend Bible school and returned to Haiti after graduation to serve the people there.
“It’s sad, but he died doing what he loved because he just wanted to help the Haitian people,” she said. “He grew up in Haiti and saw the suffering of the people. He saw the terrible conditions and he wanted to make a difference.”
Alicia Lloyd remembered her daughter-in-law as having a “really kind heart.”
“She was such a blessing to our family,” she said. “She just went in and did whatever was needed.”
Baker said he taught David Lloyd III at Ozark Bible College and University in Missouri before Natalie became interested in him. Baker also graduated from a Pentecostal school and once served as dean of students there.
“He always had a heart for Haiti,” Baker said in an interview Friday.
During their date, David Lloyd III reportedly revealed to Natalie that he felt a “calling” to return to the country after graduating from college.
Baker said he and his wife encouraged Natalie to visit Haiti before deciding to marry David and move there, which she did.
“Obviously, they figured it out and realized they were destined to be together,” he said.
The two married in June 2022 and moved to Haiti in the fall of that year. The Bakers last saw their daughter and son-in-law when they came to the U.S. for a family wedding in January.
Baker said despite the worsening situation on the ground in recent months, including the lack of any means of escape, they chose to stay because they did not want the children in their care to be left with no way out.
“It was tough for us, but we stood by it,” Baker said. “We stood by that decision.”
The Haitian missionaries befriended some of the gang members, who believed the missionaries were there for the right reasons and knew they were doing good things for the people, Baker said.
“The country is corrupt,” he said, “so they had to learn to live within the system.”
He said he found out about the attack while it was happening and felt helpless as a father that he couldn’t step in and protect his family, especially his daughter, who was an incredibly kind person who loved children.
“I don’t have any grudges against the people,” he said. “I still want help to reach the Haitian people.”
“At the end of the day, I know they gave their lives,” he added. “They put themselves before others.”
