Two Children Walk Miles To Get Help After Mexico Shooting
Nov 6, 2019, 7:03 PM | Updated: 9:43 pm
TUSCON, Ariz. — Two children who survived the shooting in Mexico are healing and coming to grips with what happened to their family members.
Nine-year-old Kenzie Langford, one of the seven surviving children, was released from the hospital on Wednesday. She and her 13-year-old brother Devin Langford have quite a story to tell.
Devin walked more than 14 miles along mountainous terrain to get help after his mother, Dawna Langford, and two siblings were killed on Monday.
“Devin’s our brave boy,” said Lovelle Langford, his oldest sister. “Dawna always said he was the most responsible boy she had so I’m very grateful that he was the one that Heavenly Father let not get hurt so he was able to walk that far.”
Langford said Devin is a quiet boy with a strong will.
“He hid them under a tree and he covered them with branches and went back toward La Mora to get help,” said Shem Stubbs, the children’s brother-in-law.
Eight hours later, fearing Devin had been killed, Kenzie left to seek help as well and got lost.
“For her to take off on her own little trek is just unbelievable,” said Lovelle Langford.
“She had blisters all over her feet. She took one shoe off because she had so many blisters, so she was walking with one foot and one shoe,” Stubbs said.
Rescuers tracked that one footstep and found her hours later.
“When they found her, the first thing she said was, ‘We gotta go back and get the others,’” Stubbs said.
Family members believed the family was targeted by the Mexican cartel to scare them into leaving.
“This was anything but an accident,” Stubbs said. “There was nothing accidental about it. This was planned and they did this on purpose. It was cold-blooded murder.”
They said the children survived because they were raised to work together. “They’re not your average American kids,” Stubbs said. “They were raised milking cows. These are some of the most responsible people I know.”
Their father was praying for a miracle.
“He was just praying that somehow there would be a miracle and one of them would be alive, and he got seven of them,” Stubbs said.
“They all took gunfire and they all sat out for eleven hours dehydrated and they’re all still with us, so yah, I think Heavenly Father spared their lives,” Lovelle Langford said.
The funeral for Dawna Langford will be held on Thursday. Most of the family members have traveled to Mexico to attend. Several of the children hospitalized have more surgeries to come.
