Family traveling to victims' funeral stop at scene of Mexico ambush, find bullet casings

Rafael Carranza, Arizona Republic
Updated

LEBARON, Mexico — In a convoy dozens of vehicles long, family members in Mexico made their way out of the community of La Mora and into the neighboring state of Chihuahua, where a funeral and burial services will take place for some of the victims of a deadly ambush earlier this week.

As the convoy traveled, it passed the same spot on the mountainous dirt road where gunmen attacked and killed nine people on Monday.

As the convoy approached each of the locations where the three vehicles were ambushed, several of the cars stopped.

At one point, yellow police tape marked a point high up in the mountain with a clear view of the area where Christina Johnson, 32, was driving when she was killed Monday.

Family members scouted the site, locating several bullet casings they believe were from the attack.

Family members scout a site in La Mora, Sonora, Mexico, on Nov. 8, 2019, where they found several bullet casings believed to be from an attack that left three women and six children dead in a Nov. 4 attack.
Family members scout a site in La Mora, Sonora, Mexico, on Nov. 8, 2019, where they found several bullet casings believed to be from an attack that left three women and six children dead in a Nov. 4 attack.

Also killed along the route that day were Dawna Langford, 43, and her two children, Trevor Langford, 11, and Rogan Langford, 2; and Rhonita Miller, 30, and her children Howard, 12, Krystal, 10, and 8-month-old twins Titus and Tiana.

Funeral services were held Thursday for two of the women and six of the children ambushed and killed by cartel members.

'Beautiful boys': Victims in Mexico ambush remembered at funerals

Mexican President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador said Friday that the investigation into the deaths is continuing, but had nothing new to add. He was responding to a question during a news conference from a reporter who said a family member, Julian LeBaron, had declared that the ambush was "not confusion; they used us to send a message."

Lopez Obrador said that possibility is being considered and "no hypothesis" has been ruled out.

At funerals Thursday, relatives remembered Langford as a caring mother who loved her coffee, and Trevor and Rogan as "two beautiful boys," and affectionately recalled "Nita" Miller and her four children.

Miller's family made the four-hour drive to LeBaron where she and her children will be buried. Johnson's funeral there is set for Saturday.

After several minutes at the scene, family members got back inside their cars and continued on their way to LeBaron.

Contributing: Daniel Gonzalez. Follow Rafael Carranza on Twitter: @RafaelCarranza

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mexico ambush: Family passes scene of ambush on route to final funeral