The NY Post and Daily Mail reported that a Mexican authority said the massacre of three Mormon families was an assassination, a targeted hit. The Mexican government says it was a case of mistaken identities. It’s still unclear.
THE STORY
The thirteen-year-old boy who walked 14 miles to get help for the wounded children was in his family’s car in the Mexican border state of Sonora on November 4th when men in bulletproof vests shot at their cars with long guns.
Devin Langford recounted the tale of horror to ABC News in his first interview since the attack.
The massacre killed three women and six children, including Devin’s mother, Dawna Langford, and his younger brothers, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2. All nine were U.S. citizens who were part of a Mormon offshoot group living in La Mora, Mexico.
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Devin said his mother’s final words to her children before she was killed were “get down right now.”
“She was trying to pray to the Lord, and she was trying to start the car to get out of there,” he said. But the car wouldn’t start, he said, adding that he believed a bullet hit the engine.
“They just started hitting the car first with a bunch of bullets, just started shooting rapidly at us,” the teen told ABC News.
“Afterward, they got us out of the car, and they just got us on the floor and then they drove off,” he added.
SURVIVAL
Mexican authorities say the shooters were drug cartel members who mistook the victims for members of a rival gang — then drove off, Devin said. Not everyone agrees.
Devin had no injuries, but others did. The survivors included a baby brother with a bullet wound to the chest and a sister who was shot in the foot.
Devin said he and the others who were able to walk carried their injured siblings as far as they could.
“We walked a little while till we couldn’t carry them no more,” he said.
Fearing the gunmen would return, Devin hid the wounded children behind a bush and then started walking for help.
“Every one of them were [sic] bleeding really bad, so I was trying to get in a rush to get there,” he said.
Devin said he doesn’t feel like a hero, but his father said there’s no doubt in his mind that his son saved lives.
“Every one of my children that survived that are living miracles,” Langford said. “How many bullet holes were fired into that vehicle … at that horrific scene and how many children were involved. It’s amazing. It’s amazing. It’s beyond amazing that they survived.”
“To be honest with you, my boy’s a hero simply because he gave his life for his brothers and sisters,” he added.
THEY WERE HITMEN
The young boy added that his mother was a very nice person.
“She was a nice person and a brave woman that tried to save her kids,” he said.
TARGETED KILLING
Mr. Langford said more evidence is showing the killers were cartel hitmen — a belief that has shaken Mexico’s Mormon community. Many believe they were targeted and some have fled Mexico for the United States.
“It’s not worth living in fear,” Mr. Langford said. “The toughest part for me was saying goodbye … saying goodbye to two innocent lives that were cut short and a vibrant wife that lived a life to its fullest that had many friends and was loved by everybody.”
The young hero wants to help his siblings recover and keep his mother’s memory alive. She certainly did a great job raising him.
The LeBron family who lost five of their family members believe it might have been a targeted attack based on evidence.
“We thought it might have been mistaken identity,” said Daniel Lebaron, a cousin of Rhonita Maria Miller, a mother who was shot and burned to death along with four of her children. “Now we’ve had quite a bit of evidence that once the attack began, they continued it, knowing that there were women and children in the vehicles. So, as far as why it happened — we’re not sure yet.”
“But it definitely was not crossfire between cartels,” he added. “This was a direct attack, apparently, from the one cartel.”
UPDATE
Mexican authorities have announced arrests in the murders.
Mexico makes arrests in massacre of American women, children: minister https://t.co/uou6ipzZHT pic.twitter.com/RgOZl3vzlk
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 11, 2019
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