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06 November 2019

After seeing his mother and two siblings die in the fierce attack on a group of US Mormons, which claimed nine victims last Monday, the 13-year-old Devin Blake Langford, first hid six brothers, covering them with tree branches and went to 23 kilometers in search of help. The story of the little hero who crossed the desert of Mexico for six hours is moving America.

Devin's mother, Dawna Ray Lanford, was driving one of three cars in the crosshairs of a commando - probably Mexican drug cartels - that killed the three women behind the wheel and six children, burning them alive. Among them, the brothers of Devin, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2 years.

During the interminable seconds that the cars were flooded with bullets, Devin threw himself at his 7-month-old sister, Faith Marie Johnson, to protect her. Surviving the ambush, he had the lucidity to hide his little brothers behind a bush, covering them with branches and leaves, and set off to raise the alarm.

It was Devin who led the army to the site of the brutal ambush
Five of the six children were recovered by the police and transferred to an Arizona hospital. A sixth, Devin's 9-year-old sister, who had left for help, was found healthy and safe a few hours later.

According to Mexican Security Minister Alfonso Durazo, the Mormon family - belonging to the LeBaron Colony community - would be targeted for an exchange of people, ending up in a gang war. For years, however, the community had started a war on drug trafficking, denouncing violence and illegality. For this reason they had requested and obtained the protection of about ninety policemen. Security measures had been relaxed over the past few weeks following a government decision.