Eight people including an Irish missionary are missing after gunmen storm a Haiti orphanage
Authorities scrambled to relocate dozens of children and staff from the Saint-Hélène orphanage run by Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs, an international charity with offices in Mexico and France. The orphanage cares for more than 240 children, according to its website.
Among those kidnapped early Sunday was Gena Heraty, an Irish missionary who has worked in Haiti since 1993 and oversaw the orphanage's special needs program for children and adults. She was assaulted in 2013 when suspects broke into the orphanage and killed her colleague, according to Irish media.
Her family issued a statement saying they were 'absolutely devastated' by Sunday's kidnappings: 'The situation is evolving and deeply worrying.'
Sunday marked the latest high-profile kidnapping involving a foreign missionary. In 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang kidnapped 17 missionaries, including five children, from a US-based organization in Ganthier, east of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The majority were held captive for 61 days.
Sunday's kidnapping took place in Kenscoff, a once peaceful community in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The doors to the orphanage remained closed on Monday as Haiti's Institute of Social Welfare and Research worked with UNICEF to identify sites where children and employees could be relocated.
No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings in an area controlled by a gang federation known as ' Viv Ansanm.' The US this year designated it as a foreign terrorist organization.
Simon Harris, Ireland's deputy prime minister, said in a statement that the kidnappings of Heraty and the others were 'deeply worrying,' and called for their immediate release.
In a past interview with the Irish Independent newspaper, Heraty recalled being threatened with death when suspects broke into the orphanage in 2013.
'They were quite aggressive. One had a hammer, one had a gun,' she said. Heraty said her colleague was killed with a hammer after he rushed to help her and others.
'The last place you would expect a violent death to happen in Haiti would be in a house with special-needs people,' she said. 'Life is just not fair. We know that. We just have to accept it.'
At least 175 people in Haiti were reported kidnapped from April to the end of June of this year, with 37% of those cases occurring in Port-au-Prince.
The United Nations said a majority of those kidnappings were blamed on the Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu gangs, which form part of the Viv Ansanm federation.
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New leadership appointed in Haiti as gangs threaten to overthrow government
A wealthy businessman on Thursday became the head of Haiti's transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order in the troubled country as a top gang leader underscored the challenges facing the nation by vowing to overthrow the government. Laurent Saint-Cyr's appointment at the council's heavily guarded office in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control 90% of the neighborhoods, marked the first time that members of Haiti's private sector serve in both the rotating presidency and the post of prime minister, two positions that share the country's executive duties. Saint-Cyr had his start at a local insurance company while Haiti's current prime minister once ran an internet firm. 'Our country is going through one of the greatest crises in all its history,' Saint-Cyr said as he was sworn in. 'It's not the time for beautiful speeches. It's time to act.' Hours earlier, a powerful gang federation that has long denounced Haiti's oligarchs threatened to overthrow the government, and gunfire erupted in parts of the capital. In a video posted on social media, Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy Chérizier — better known as 'Barbecue' — warns residents to give his armed group free passage through neighborhoods to reach the council's office. 'People of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us … in the battle to free the country,' Chérizier says, wearing a bulletproof vest and with an automatic rifle slung around his shoulder. A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police said in a statement that officers thwarted potential attacks by around-the-clock patrols and by boosting the number of armed forces in certain neighborhoods and around critical infrastructure. 'Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable,' it said. Saint-Cyr thanked all national and international actors who have helped Haiti, as well as the private sector, which he called the engine of the country's economy. He noted that while he's from the private sector, he would serve all people equally. Saint-Cyr previously served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti and of the country's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He'll be working with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a one-time president of an internet company in Haiti and also a former president of the country's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Saint-Cyr said security was a priority. He called on the armed forces to intensify their operations and on international partners to send more soldiers, offer more training and help boost a mission lacking resources and personnel. 'We must restore state authority,' he said. 'The challenges we face are certainly linked to insecurity, but they also are the result of our lack of courage, a lack of vision and our irresponsibility.' He questioned what was preventing the government from offering services Haitians deserve, including health and education. 'Mister prime minister, assume your responsibilities!' he said. Meanwhile, 58 organizations from countries that include the United States in a letter to Saint-Cyr accused the council of violating its legal obligations to Haiti's women and girls. 'Collective rape is endemic,' they said, noting that sexual violence has surged as gangs persist in their rampage. The organizations also accused Haiti's government of being 'completely absent' at shelters where rape survivors need basic services. A growing number of people have grumbled about Haiti's private sector leading the country. Some of Haiti's wealthy elites and powerful politicians have long been accused of financing and arming dozens of gangs. 'The elites have always wanted power, and they have always wanted to control Haiti, and now they're in control,' said Marline Jean-Pierre, a 44-year-old teacher who braved gunfire to visit a friend at a hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. She said she has lost hope that things will change, accusing former council presidents of making promises they didn't keep. 'Nothing really happened,' she said. 'Young women are being raped, families are being dismantled.' However, dozens of Haitians wearing white T-shirts and clutching signs emblazoned with Saint-Cyr's photograph gathered outside the council's office to support him. Skirmishes broke out hours later between supporters and those who opposed Saint-Cyr. 'Even though he's a mulatto with good hair, he's Haitian,' one supporter said of Saint-Cyr, who is part of the country's small and powerful lighter-skinned elite — as is Fils-Aimé. As the country prepared for Saint-Cyr's swearing-in ceremony, Haitians posted a flurry of warnings about violence in hopes that people could remain safe. 'Those of you in the capital, you will hear gunshots both ahead of you and behind you. Remain on guard!' one message stated. Tripotay Lakay, a local news site, reported that one person was killed and another injured while driving into Port-au-Prince on Thursday, though it was unclear how that happened. A video posted on social media shows a woman's body slumped in the car. Heavy gunfire around downtown Port-au-Prince persisted on Tuesday afternoon, with local media reporting that several people were wounded. Small explosions from police-manned drones also were heard. Violence also was reported in Kenscoff, a once peaceful farming area above the hills of Port-au-Prince. The UN-backed mission said it lost two armored vehicles after they became trapped in trenches dug out by gangs. It said Kenyan policemen came under an attack with Molotov cocktails but 'courageously held their ground, inflicting significant damage on the assailants.' Three officers received minor injuries. Videos posted on social media show suspected gang members laughing and cheering as they surrounded one of the armored vehicles that was later set on fire. 'Come get it back if you can!' one gunman is heard jeering. In a report released Thursday, the UN-backed mission noted that it has 991 personnel, far less than the 2,500 envisioned, and some $112 million in its trust fund — about 14% of the estimated $800 million needed a year. The mission said it has no air support for operations and that only 200 officers can be deployed at a time because of insufficient equipment, including vehicles. The mission also noted that the government remains fragile: 'Partisan infighting within the transitional government has had the effect of paralyzing the government and emboldening the gangs.' Gangs in Kenscoff recently kidnapped eight people from an orphanage, including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child. They remain missing. Violence surged in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse, and ongoing violence has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years. At least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June across Haiti. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.
CNN
9 hours ago
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New leadership appointed in Haiti as gangs threaten to overthrow government
A wealthy businessman on Thursday became the head of Haiti's transitional presidential council tasked with restoring order in the troubled country as a top gang leader underscored the challenges facing the nation by vowing to overthrow the government. Laurent Saint-Cyr's appointment at the council's heavily guarded office in the capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control 90% of the neighborhoods, marked the first time that members of Haiti's private sector serve in both the rotating presidency and the post of prime minister, two positions that share the country's executive duties. Saint-Cyr had his start at a local insurance company while Haiti's current prime minister once ran an internet firm. 'Our country is going through one of the greatest crises in all its history,' Saint-Cyr said as he was sworn in. 'It's not the time for beautiful speeches. It's time to act.' Hours earlier, a powerful gang federation that has long denounced Haiti's oligarchs threatened to overthrow the government, and gunfire erupted in parts of the capital. In a video posted on social media, Viv Ansanm gang leader Jimmy Chérizier — better known as 'Barbecue' — warns residents to give his armed group free passage through neighborhoods to reach the council's office. 'People of Haiti, take care of yourselves and help us … in the battle to free the country,' Chérizier says, wearing a bulletproof vest and with an automatic rifle slung around his shoulder. A UN-backed mission led by Kenyan police said in a statement that officers thwarted potential attacks by around-the-clock patrols and by boosting the number of armed forces in certain neighborhoods and around critical infrastructure. 'Armed gangs had plotted to disrupt national stability and render the country ungovernable,' it said. Saint-Cyr thanked all national and international actors who have helped Haiti, as well as the private sector, which he called the engine of the country's economy. He noted that while he's from the private sector, he would serve all people equally. Saint-Cyr previously served as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti and of the country's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He'll be working with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, a one-time president of an internet company in Haiti and also a former president of the country's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Saint-Cyr said security was a priority. He called on the armed forces to intensify their operations and on international partners to send more soldiers, offer more training and help boost a mission lacking resources and personnel. 'We must restore state authority,' he said. 'The challenges we face are certainly linked to insecurity, but they also are the result of our lack of courage, a lack of vision and our irresponsibility.' He questioned what was preventing the government from offering services Haitians deserve, including health and education. 'Mister prime minister, assume your responsibilities!' he said. Meanwhile, 58 organizations from countries that include the United States in a letter to Saint-Cyr accused the council of violating its legal obligations to Haiti's women and girls. 'Collective rape is endemic,' they said, noting that sexual violence has surged as gangs persist in their rampage. The organizations also accused Haiti's government of being 'completely absent' at shelters where rape survivors need basic services. A growing number of people have grumbled about Haiti's private sector leading the country. Some of Haiti's wealthy elites and powerful politicians have long been accused of financing and arming dozens of gangs. 'The elites have always wanted power, and they have always wanted to control Haiti, and now they're in control,' said Marline Jean-Pierre, a 44-year-old teacher who braved gunfire to visit a friend at a hospital in downtown Port-au-Prince. She said she has lost hope that things will change, accusing former council presidents of making promises they didn't keep. 'Nothing really happened,' she said. 'Young women are being raped, families are being dismantled.' However, dozens of Haitians wearing white T-shirts and clutching signs emblazoned with Saint-Cyr's photograph gathered outside the council's office to support him. Skirmishes broke out hours later between supporters and those who opposed Saint-Cyr. 'Even though he's a mulatto with good hair, he's Haitian,' one supporter said of Saint-Cyr, who is part of the country's small and powerful lighter-skinned elite — as is Fils-Aimé. As the country prepared for Saint-Cyr's swearing-in ceremony, Haitians posted a flurry of warnings about violence in hopes that people could remain safe. 'Those of you in the capital, you will hear gunshots both ahead of you and behind you. Remain on guard!' one message stated. Tripotay Lakay, a local news site, reported that one person was killed and another injured while driving into Port-au-Prince on Thursday, though it was unclear how that happened. A video posted on social media shows a woman's body slumped in the car. Heavy gunfire around downtown Port-au-Prince persisted on Tuesday afternoon, with local media reporting that several people were wounded. Small explosions from police-manned drones also were heard. Violence also was reported in Kenscoff, a once peaceful farming area above the hills of Port-au-Prince. The UN-backed mission said it lost two armored vehicles after they became trapped in trenches dug out by gangs. It said Kenyan policemen came under an attack with Molotov cocktails but 'courageously held their ground, inflicting significant damage on the assailants.' Three officers received minor injuries. Videos posted on social media show suspected gang members laughing and cheering as they surrounded one of the armored vehicles that was later set on fire. 'Come get it back if you can!' one gunman is heard jeering. In a report released Thursday, the UN-backed mission noted that it has 991 personnel, far less than the 2,500 envisioned, and some $112 million in its trust fund — about 14% of the estimated $800 million needed a year. The mission said it has no air support for operations and that only 200 officers can be deployed at a time because of insufficient equipment, including vehicles. The mission also noted that the government remains fragile: 'Partisan infighting within the transitional government has had the effect of paralyzing the government and emboldening the gangs.' Gangs in Kenscoff recently kidnapped eight people from an orphanage, including an Irish missionary and a 3-year-old child. They remain missing. Violence surged in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse, and ongoing violence has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years. At least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June across Haiti. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti.
CNN
11 hours ago
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Prosecutors will pursue the death penalty in quadruple murder of abandoned Tennessee baby's family
Prosecutors plan to seek the execution of a man accused of shooting and killing four members of a family in rural Tennessee, including the parents of an infant found abandoned under the summer sun miles away, the district attorney said in court Thursday. Austin Robert Drummond, captured Tuesday after a week-long manhunt, sat handcuffed in a black-and-white-striped prison uniform appearing by video feed from jail for his arraignment in a Tiptonville, Tennessee, courthouse on four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. Drummond showed no expression as Lake County General Sessions Judge Andrew T. Cook read the charges to him. 'At this time, the state intends to seek the death penalty,' Danny Goodman, district attorney for Dyer and Lake counties, told the judge. Cook entered a not guilty plea on Drummond's behalf because he didn't yet have an attorney, and appointed attorney Bryan Huffman to represent him at his next hearing scheduled for August 14. CNN has reached out to Huffman for comment. Cook ordered Drummond, 28, held without bond because, he said, state law allows him to deny bond in capital cases and because 'first and foremost, it's the court's responsibility to take into consideration the safety posed to the community.' Drummond was remanded to the custody of the Lake County Sheriff's Department. Drummond is a convicted felon with alleged ties to a violent street gang who was out on bail at the time of the killings on an attempted murder charge relating to time he spent in prison. He is charged with the murders of James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15. The victims were found July 29 in Tiptonville, a town in northwest Tennessee's Lake County, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. The four were found hours after the seven-month-old daughter of Wilson and Adrianna Williams – identified only by the initials W.W. – had been found abandoned in a car seat in a 'random' front yard near the Dyer County community of Tigrett, nearly 40 miles southeast of Tiptonville and about 40 miles northwest of Jackson, authorities said. Drummond allegedly kidnapped the baby while he was armed with a firearm, according to the affidavit of complaint in the case. The document does not offer any additional details about the alleged kidnapping, including whether Drummond ended up abandoning the child. Rose was the baby's maternal grandmother, and Braydon Williams was the baby's maternal uncle, according to Goodman. Drummond's girlfriend was Rose's sister, according to Goodman, and she served as a corrections officer when and where Drummond was in prison for aggravated robbery, CNN affiliate WHBQ reported, citing the state corrections department. But authorities have not released any court documents or details identifying a motive for the killings or any other information about how they identified Drummond as a suspect. Three other people have been charged with allegedly helping Drummond after the killings. Drummond's rap sheet dates back to 2013 when the then-16-year-old armed with a pistol robbed a Circle K convenience store in Jackson just after midnight, court documents show. For that, he was convicted in 2014 of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 10 years in prison, records show. After the trial, he made threats against the victim of the robbery and against the jurors who found him guilty, resulting in being charged with retaliation for past action and three more years added to his sentence, according to District Attorney Jody S. Pickens and court records. After serving his time, Drummond was released in September last year, but faced new charges related to his time in prison: a drug arrest the day he was released, and an attempted murder case, according to records from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, or TBI. Drummond and another defendant allegedly tried to kill a third inmate on August 29, 2023, according to the indictment in that case. The indictment does not include details about the incident. 'He made bond' and was 'out on bond on those charges' when the bodies were found in Tiptonville, Goodman said. That bond was officially revoked in court Thursday. Kim Hamil, Wilson's mother, told The Associated Press that she and other relatives were trying to let justice take its course and plan to attend Drummond's hearings whenever they can. She said relatives are caring for her son's baby girl. 'It's a whole family gone. It's unbelievable,' Hamil said. 'As a family, we're just broken.' CNN's Cindy Von Quednow and Emma Tucker contributed to this report.
