Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
After Deadly Mexico Ambush, Stories of Bravery and Horror
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 6, 2019

Share

GALEANA, Mexico — The eight children, some mere infants, who survived the ambush in northern Mexico not only escaped the drug cartel gunmen who killed their mothers but managed to hide in the brush, with some walking miles to get help despite grisly bullet wounds.

“Those who attacked the occupants (of the vehicles), they let the children go, so that we can deduce that it was not a targeted attack [against the families].” — army chief of staff Gen. Hector Mendoza
In a testament to a mother’s devotion, one woman reportedly stashed her baby on the floor of her Suburban and got out of the vehicle, waving her arms to show the gunmen she wasn’t a threat. Her bullet-riddled body was found about 15 yards away.
The mother was one of nine U.S. citizens — three women and six children, all living in northern Mexico — slaughtered Monday when gunmen opened fire on three SUVs along a dirt road in an attack that left one vehicle a burned-out, bullet-riddled hulk.
Mexican officials said the attackers may have mistaken the group’s large SUVs for those of a rival gang. The Juarez drug cartel and its armed wing, known as “La Linea,” or “The Line,” are fighting a vicious turf war against a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as the “Salazar.”
“Those who attacked the occupants (of the vehicles), they let the children go, so that we can deduce that it was not a targeted attack” against the families, said army chief of staff Gen. Hector Mendoza.
Mendoza said the ambush consisted of two attacks, two hours apart at two places along the road. He said at 9 a.m. a Chevy Tahoe was hit by bullets and exploded in flames, and at 11 a.m., two Suburbans — one carrying the mother and her baby — were hit by gunfire.
Photo of burned-out vehicle
This combination of frames from a video by Kenny Miller and posted on the Twitter account of Alex LeBaron shows two views of a burned-out vehicle that was being used by some members of the LeBaron family as they were driving in a convoy near the Sonora-Chihuahua border in Mexico. Mexican authorities say drug cartel gunmen ambushed multiple vehicles, including this one, slaughtering several women and children. (Kenny Miller/Courtesy of Alex LeBaron via AP)

The Ambush Took Place in the Remote Area of Sonora State

The five wounded children were flown to the border by Mexican authorities in a military helicopter to receive hospital care in the U.S. Health authorities said they were in stable condition when they were transferred.
Three other children who were not wounded are in the care of family members in the hamlet of La Mora in northern Mexico.
The ambush took place in the remote, mountainous area of Sonora state.
Thirteen-year-old Devin Blake Langford, one of the few uninjured young people, quickly took charge, eventually walking about 14 miles back to La Mora for help, said Kendra Miller, a relative.
“After witnessing his mother and brothers being shot dead, Devin hid his six other siblings in the bushes and covered them with branches to keep them safe while he went for help,” according to the relative’s account. “When he took too long to return, his 9-year-old sister left the remaining five to try again.”
That girl, Mckenzie Rayne Langford, walked for hours in the dark before she was found several hours after the other children were rescued.
Altogether, the youngsters were on their own from about 11 a.m. until about 7:30 p.m., when they were rescued. Relatives from La Mora tried to reach them before that but were turned back by gunfire from the cartel gunmen.

The Killers Were Believed to From La Linea

In recordings of calls between the rescuers, they can be heard debating whether to risk more lives or wait an hour or two for Mexican army troops to arrive. It was an agonizing decision.

The killers were believed to from La Linea, whose gunmen had entered Sinaloa cartel territory the previous day and had set up an armed outpost on a hilltop near La Mora and an ambush farther up the road. The Juarez cartel apparently wanted to send a message that it controlled the road into Chihuahua state.
What they saw when they found the children was terrifying.
Cody Greyson Langford, 8, had been shot in the jaw and bled profusely. Another girl had been shot in the foot and the back.
The killers were believed to from La Linea, whose gunmen had entered Sinaloa cartel territory the previous day and had set up an armed outpost on a hilltop near La Mora and an ambush farther up the road. The Juarez cartel apparently wanted to send a message that it controlled the road into Chihuahua state.
It was this invasion force that the American mothers drove into.
But it wasn’t the cruelty of the cartels but the bravery, innocence and sacrifice of the victims that relatives wanted remembered.
Austin Cloes, a relative of the victims, said from his home in Salt Lake City that they loved their children and enjoyed their quiet lives based around a successful pecan farming operation.
Photo of a car passing through Colonia LeBaron
A car passes through Colonia LeBaron, one of many locations where the extended LeBaron family lives in the Galeana municipality of Chihuahua state in northern Mexico, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. Drug cartel gunmen ambushed on Monday three vehicles along a road near the state border of Chihuahua and Sonora, slaughtering at least six children and three women from the extended LeBaron family, all of them U.S. citizens living in northern Mexico, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)

The Attack Underscored the Cartels’ Increasing Indifference

“These sorts of people shouldn’t just be buried without their names being put out there. These are great people,” Cloes said.
The victims lived about 70 miles south of Douglas, Arizona, in La Mora, founded decades ago by an offshoot of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many La Mora residents call themselves Mormons but are not affiliated with the church.
All of the victims were apparently related to the extended LeBaron family in Chihuahua, whose members have run afoul of the drug traffickers over the years. Benjamin LeBaron, an anti-crime activist who founded neighborhood patrols against cartels, was killed in 2009.
The group had set out to visit relatives in Chihuahua. One woman was headed to the airport in Phoenix to meet her husband.
While a drug-related violence has been raging for years in Mexico, the attack underscored the cartels’ increasing indifference to the killing of children as collateral damage.
In August in Chihuahua, cartel gunmen fired 123 bullets at a man and also killed three girls, ages 4, 13 and 14. In June, a young boy was killed along with his father in Sonora. In July, a 10-year-old was killed during a robbery in Puebla state.
Officials said Tuesday that a suspect was arrested in the border city of Agua Prieta with assault rifles, but they later said the suspect apparently had not been involved in the ambush.
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

DON'T MISS

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

DON'T MISS

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

DON'T MISS

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

DON'T MISS

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

DON'T MISS

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

DON'T MISS

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

UP NEXT

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

UP NEXT

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

UP NEXT

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

UP NEXT

Israeli Spy Chief Commends Agents for Iran Mission, Vows to Remain Vigilant

UP NEXT

All NATO, Including US, ‘Totally Committed’ to Keeping Ukraine in Fight, Rutte Says

UP NEXT

UK Says It’s Buying 12 F-35A Stealth Jets That Can Carry Nuclear Weapons

UP NEXT

Iran’s ‘Paper Tiger’ Leadership Will Fall, Predicts Nobel Peace Laureate Ebadi

UP NEXT

How a Birthday Boat Ride on Lake Tahoe Turned Tragic

UP NEXT

Trump Says Spain Will Pay More in Trade Deal After Refusal to Meet NATO Defense Spending Targets

UP NEXT

Trump Says He Will Speak to Putin Soon About Ending Ukraine War

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

13 hours ago

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

13 hours ago

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

14 hours ago

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

14 hours ago

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

15 hours ago

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

16 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

16 hours ago

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

17 hours ago

Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Reboot Fast-Tracked to 2027

17 hours ago

Democratic Lawmaker Pleads Not Guilty to Assaulting US Agents at Immigration Center

17 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The Trump administration’s plan to repeal a rule prohibiti...

12 hours ago

Tahoe National Forest
12 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

Palestinians gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
13 hours ago

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

West Nile virus mosquito
13 hours ago

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

13 hours ago

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle patrols along the border wall, following the establishment of a 260-mile military zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and Texas as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S., May 20, 2025. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks during an interview at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend