Why 'Sister Wives' star Christine Brown’s new husband brought up Mexico Massacre on their wedding day
The wedding special of Sister Wives star Christine Brown and David Woolley was full of joy and celebration. However, one tragic chapter from David's family history brought tears to everyone's eyes. During the October 2023 ceremony in Moab, Utah, David spoke to guests about the horrific passing of his niece, Dawna Ray Langford, and her two sons, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 2, in the 2019 Mexico Massacre. Those slain were members of a breakaway Mormon community who had settled in Mexico. They were attacked about 100 miles south of the Arizona border in Chihuahua. Three SUVs carrying families with dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship were driving to a wedding when gunmen ambushed them.
Dawna's son, Devin Langford, lived to recount the horrific events. "They just started hitting the car first, like with a bunch, a bunch of bullets. Just start shooting rapidly at us," Devin recounted during a Good Morning America interview. He described how his mother frantically tried to get the car going, praying desperately, but it had been damaged in the gunfire.
At the time, two of David's siblings were living in Mexico and had plural marriages. One of his sisters, Karen Woolley—Dawna's mother—spoke to Reuters after the tragedy. "I can still hear her talking, saying, 'Hi Mom, good morning!' You know? She will truly be missed," Karen said, describing the pain of losing her child.
The widower, David Langford, remembered his wife Dawna as a "brave woman who tried to save her kids." Speaking to ABC News, he marveled at how some of his children managed to survive. "Every one of my children that survived that are living miracles. How many bullet holes were fired into that vehicle...at that horrific scene and how many children were involved. It's amazing...It's beyond amazing that they survived."
Court Orders Mexican Drug Cartel to Pay Mormon Families $4.6 Billion After Desert Massacre
— Edllp (@erendiradela) July 8, 2022
The attack, which killed nine women and children from the Miller/LeBaron and the Johnson/Langford families, was one of the worst in the history of Mexico's "drug war."
Mexican officials reported that the family had been driving through an area where rival cartel groups had been fighting for control earlier that day. The families of the victims filed a lawsuit against the Juarez cartel and eventually received a historic judgment. U.S. Magistrate Judge, Clare Hochhalter, ordered the cartel to pay $1.5 billion in damages. Under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, this amount was automatically trebled to $4.6 billion, according to The Express.
David Wooley's mother, Evelyn Minnie Pratt, was also tearfully articulative during the wedding reception. She reflected on how the family had remembered their losses in their celebrations. The nuptials, documented by TLC, showed just how close-knit the family has remained despite their hardships. They never gave up hope to see justice being pursued and progress has been achieved through the apprehension of a few suspects. Mexican prosecutors have arrested about 20 suspects as of February 2021. In September 2023, U.S. Marshals captured Ivan Gustavo Hernandez-Cabral, 24, a suspect related to the ambush, after receiving a tip.
