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Teen Survivor Of Mexico Massacre Recalls The Horrific Details Of His Family's Deaths
Devin Langford. 13. said his mother Dawna Langford's final words were "get down right now" before she was killed, along with two of his brothers, in a hail of bullets.
In the final moments of Dawna Langford’s life, she tried to save her children, frantically attempting to get the family’s car to start so she could flee the gunfire.
Her 13-year-old son Devin Langford recalled the harrowing details of his mother’s last moments on “Good Morning America” Monday.
“They just started hitting [the] car first, like with a bunch, a bunch of bullets. Just start shooting rapidly at us,” he said of the massacre that killed nine U.S. citizens, including six children. “The car didn’t work. So she was just trying right there, starting the car as much as she could, but I’m pretty sure they shot something so the car wouldn’t even start.”
Her final words were “get down right now,” Devin said she as tried to save her children. Dawna Langford and two of her sons, 11-year-old Trevor and 2-year-old Rogan, were killed in the gunfire, but the other seven children in the car survived—many with gunshot wounds.
Devin told “Good Morning America” after the gunfire stopped the gunman “got us out of the car, and they just got us on the floor and then they drove off.”
The surviving siblings had initially tried to carry the injured to safety, but many of the children’s extensive injuries made that impossible and Devin—who was not injured—decided he would need to strike out on his own to get help.
"We walked a little while until we couldn't carry them no more. And so we put them in the bushes so they wouldn't get hit or nothing,” he said.
After covering his siblings with branches, Devin started on the 14-mile walk back to the family’s home in La Mora to get help as he worried whether “there was anybody else out there trying to shoot me or following me.”
He also told “Good Morning America” he thought about his mom and two brothers that he'd lost in the gunfire, as well as his injured siblings.
“Every one of them were bleeding really bad,” he said. “So I was trying to get in a rush to get there.”
Devin arrived at La Mora—a community that had once been a refuge for the victim’s descendants after polygamy was outlawed in the United States—about six hours after he had started on the long walk.
In the days that followed last week’s horrific massacre, Devin has been praised as a hero. While he doesn’t see himself that way, his father David Langford, who appeared on the morning show alongside his son, believes his son’s actions that day helped save the lives of his other children.
"Every one of my children that survived that are living miracles," he 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."
Last week, as the family laid Dawna Langford and her two slain sons to rest, David Langford told mourners that he no longer felt safe in the Mexico community that had been his family’s home.
“I do not feel safe here and I won’t,” he said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
On Monday, Langford said on “Good Morning America” that he'd made the decision to move his family from Mexico.
"It's not worth living in fear," he 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."
David Langford is not alone.
His brother Ben Langford told The Salt Lake Tribune he planned to leave the community as well.
“If I can sell, I’ll sell,” he said of the house and ranch he owns. “As of right now, half of the families are moving out of here.”
The community had once been a peaceful place for people to raise their families, as they earned a living by growing crops or raising cattle. Children would go swimming in the nearby river or spend their time fishing, but as drug cartels in the area have gained power, the area has become a more dangerous place to be.
“We’re never coming back here again,” David Langford’s son-in-law Jeff Jessop told the paper after the funeral. “This is the biggest gathering there will ever be here again.”
Authorities have said they plan to seek justice for Dawna Langford, her sons and the other victims of ambush, including Rhonita Miller and four of her children, and Christina Marie Langford Johnson, whose 7-month-old daughter Faith miraculously survived the gunfire.
All of the victims had been living in the same Mexico community and had dual citizenship in both the United States and Mexico.
