Boy Walked for 6 Hours to Get Help After Seeing Mom & Siblings Slaughtered During Ambush in Mexico
After witnessing his family be brutally murdered in an ambush in Mexico, one 13-year-old boy trekked through the dangerous countryside for six hours to get help for the injured survivors.
Devin Blake Langford was one of the 14 children and three mothers who were attacked and gunned down near the United States’ Arizona border on Monday, his relative Kendra Lee Miller wrote on Facebook early Tuesday morning.
The three mothers, Christina Langford, Rhonita Miller and Dawna Langford, were each driving separate SUVs from their family community, LaMora, in Sonora, Mexico.
Devin was in his mother Dawna’s car when their vehicle was attacked, Kendra said on Facebook. Dawna, 43, and two of her sons — Devin’s younger brothers, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2½ — died as bullets tore through their car.
The second oldest of the family, Devin took action, hiding those of his siblings who managed to escape under branches in nearby bushes before walking the 14 miles back to LaMora for help.
While Kylie, 14, McKenzie, 9, Cody, 8, Jake, 6, Xander, 4, and Brixon, only nine months, waited for Devin, he bravely made his way through the mountainous region for aid. It took Devin six hours to get back to family members, and McKenzie ended up leaving while he was gone, also looking for help.
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When Devin arrived at LaMora around 5:30 p.m., he brought the first news of the deadly attack with him.
According to Kendra, “Devin’s uncles armed themselves with guns and returned to try and find the hidden children, knowing many of them were injured. They didn’t get far before realizing they would be risking death, since there had been continual shooting for hours, all over the mountains near LaMora. The group of men waited a while for reinforcements, and around 7:30, found the hidden children.”
Yet when the men arrived, McKenzie was missing, as she had fled for help when her older brother didn’t return quickly. After two more hours of searching, McKenzie was found.
By nightfall, Devin’s father David Langford arrived from Tuscon, Arizona. David accompanied the five injured children in a helicopter back to the U.S. to get treated, and Devin, Jake, and Faith remained in LaMora.
Christina’s car was with Dawna’s when the ambush began, and the 31-year-old mother was shot and died after she leapt from her vehicle in a desperate plea for the attackers to stop, according to Kendra’s post. Christina’s baby daughter Faith — whose car seat had been hurriedly set on the floor of the car — miraculously survived.
Rhonita’s car was discovered about 10 miles away from Dawna and Christina’s cars. The 30-year-old mother and her children Howard, 12, Krystal, 10, and twins Titus and Tiana, eight months, all died in the attack, as their car caught fire from all the gunfire. The family members were all “burned to mostly ashes and only a few charred bones [were] left to identify that all five had been inside,” Kendra wrote.
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Relatives of the family told multiple news outlets that they believe the attack was a case of mistaken identity by drug cartel gunmen, but authorities have not publicly released the motive — or named any suspects in the killings. The FBI has joined Mexican officials in investigating the brutal killings.
“Everyone is in so much shock,” said relative Willie Jessop, according to NBC News. “It’s just unbelievable, and there’s just no way to comprehend it.”
Donald Trump called the attackers “monsters” in a tweet on Tuesday, and added that “the United States stands ready, willing & able to get involved and do the job quickly and effectively. The great new President of Mexico has made this a big issue, but the cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!”
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in a tweet on Tuesday, “Through communication with Trump, I send my deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed on the borders of Chihuahua and Sonora.”
As of Tuesday evening, a GoFundMe set up for the family had raised nearly $57,000.
