A relative of the family who was attacked in Mexico during a violent ambush is speaking out on Facebook, revealing the trauma and horror her very young relatives were forced to endure.
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The Attack
According to People, Kendra Lee Miller took to Facebook on November 5 to describe exactly what occurred when three mothers and their children were ambushed in Mexico. Miller said the ambush happened during the morning hours of November 4.
Each mother was driving a separate car carrying the 14 children they had between them. The families were leaving “a small family community” in LaMora, Mexico. Two of the mothers were taking their children to see family in Chihuahua, and the third was heading to Phoenix, Arizona to pick her husband up from the airport.
On the way to their destinations, Miller reports that the families were “ambushed by the Mexican cartels; shot, burned, and murdered in cold blood. These were innocent civilians, American citizens simply trying to live peaceful lives.”
Miller wrote that Rhonita Miller‘s vehicle, which was carrying four of her seven children, was the first to be found:
“For 11 hours, their families all over Sonora, Chihuahua, and the Midwestern US waited in fear and horror for any news of possible survivors. The first vehicle was found full of bullet holes and completely ablaze. Nita and the four of her seven children she had taken on the trip were burned to mostly ashes and only a few charred bones left to identify that all five had been inside. It appeared that one tried to escape as the front passenger door was open and the remains were partially in and out of the vehicle.”
The second and third mothers, Christina Langford Johnson and Dawna Langford, were discovered about 10 miles up the road in their respective vehicles. According to Miller’s Facebook post, both vehicles were being sprayed with bullets when Christina gave her own life by jumping out of the vehicles to try to show those attacking them that it was just women and children in the car.
Christina, Dawna, and two of Dawna’s sons were killed as a result of the gunfire. And when all hope was lost, Dawna’s 13-year-old son, Devin, emerged a hero amidst the complete and utter horror he had just witnessed.
Not only did Devin manage to get all six of his surviving siblings out of the vehicle, covering them with branches to hide them and keep them safe, but he also walked 14 miles, a total of six hours, according to People, to find help. Miller continued:
“After witnessing his mother and brothers being shot dead, Dawna’s son Devin hid his 6 other siblings in the bushes and covered them with branches to keep them safe while he went for help. When he took too long to return, his 9-year-old sister left the remaining five to try again. Devin arrived in LaMora at 5:30 pm, 6 hours after the ambush, giving the first news anyone had heard of his and Christina’s families.”
After walking to safety, and finding his uncles, they waited another two hours for reinforcements before driving to the scene of the crime. It was then they found the hidden children and Christina’s infant daughter Faith, still in the vehicle, surrounded by bullet holes, but completely unharmed. “She was in her car seat, which looked to have been hurriedly placed on the floor of the vehicle by her mother for protection.”
Devin’s 9-year-old sister, Mckenzie, was found roughly two hours later at 9:30 p.m. Five of Devin’s surviving siblings, including Mckenzie, are being treated at hospitals. Devin, his brother Jake, and Faith, are with their aunts and grandmothers being cared for.
The Deceased
Miller identified those who passed in the ambush as Rhonita Maria Miller, 30, Howard Jacob Miller, 12, Krystal Bellaine Miller, 10, Titus Alvin and Tiana Gricel Miller, 8 months, Christina Marie Langford Johnson, 31, Dawna Ray Langford, 43, Trevor Harvey Langford, 11, and Rogan Jay Langford, 2.
A Case of Mistaken Identity or A Deliberate Target?
Two days after the shooting, a “heavily armed man” was arrested near where the murders took place, CBS News reports. The man was reportedly found in a vehicle where two people were discovered to be bound and gagged. Those two individuals were rescued.
As CBS News reports, although many new outlets have reported that the man was arrested in connection to the murders, public security official Alfonso Durazo said, “preliminary information indicates that the suspect has no ties to the murder.”
However, while some of the family believes this to be a case of mistaken identity by the Mexican cartel, authorities have yet to confirm a motive. According to CBS News, sources say the “leading” theory is that the attack was deliberate.
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The President’s Response
Just before 8:30 a.m., President Donald J. Trump took to Twitter to call on Mexico to help the United State “wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth.”
He then went on to offer his condolences to the family members who were killed.
As of November 5, none of the children injured in the ambush are critical. A GoFundMe has been set up to help with funeral and medical costs.
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