We will never forget our mom’s final words: “My boy! My boy! My baby boy!”
Just moments earlier, she had ducked down like the rest of us, praying this nightmare would end, hoping the bullets weren’t real.
But reality hit hard, and soon after realizing that her son was taken from her, our mother’s life was also stolen from us.
On November 4, 2019, the Juarez Cartel, aided by its ruthless enforcement wing, La Linea, massacred our family as we drove through northern Mexico. They took the lives of our mother, Dawna, our two younger brothers, Trevor and Rogan, and six others with us that day.
Five years have passed since that fateful day. Despite surviving the attack, we are still fighting for justice—and for the first time in years, there is hope.
It was nothing short of a miracle that we were spared.
On that horrific day, bullets rained down on our car, the sound deafening, as if the shooting would never stop. Our clothes were soaked with blood that wasn’t ours. We looked on in horror at the lifeless bodies of our little brothers and our mother, still strapped in the driver’s seat, gone.
As the gunfire ceased, we saw the attackers—monsters cloaked in camouflage—approach our vehicle. Panic set in. We scrambled to cover the windows with whatever we could find—garbage bags, suitcases, toys. Anything to hide from them.
But before we knew it, we were staring into the barrels of their guns.
They shouted at us in Spanish and ordered us to leave the car. We grabbed our younger brother Cody, who had been shot so many times he couldn’t even move, and our 9-month-old baby brother. We huddled on the ground, uncertain if this was our end.
But by some miracle, they let us go.
With the attackers gone, we were forced to flee on foot, leaving behind a bloody trail. After a while, we stopped and took shelter under a small tree by the roadside. One of us, Devin, ran 14 miles through the desert to seek help, while the remaining six of us stayed hidden under the tree for over 10 hours, praying for rescue.
Days later, we buried our mother and brothers. The wounds are still fresh, but the killers who tore our family apart are still free. The cartels responsible for this massacre continue to operate unchecked, profiting from human trafficking, smuggling deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorizing families like ours.
But for the first time, we feel a glimmer of hope.
President Donald Trump is taking a stand against the cartels, and for the first time in years, we believe there’s a chance for justice.
Trump must designate the Juarez Cartel as a terrorist organization.
Following our tragedy, President Trump boldly labeled the cartels as “terrorist organizations.”
In February 2025, his administration officially classified eight cartels as such, using the full power of the federal government to target them and their financial backers.
This was a significant step forward, but the Juarez Cartel and La Linea—who took the lives of our loved ones—must be added to the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.
This designation would cut off their resources and hold them accountable. The financial networks that support these killers should be targeted, sending a strong message that they can no longer fuel violence.
For our family, this could bring us the peace we’ve been searching for. We don’t want any other children to suffer the unbearable grief of losing a mother or siblings like we did.
While we can never bring back our mom and brothers, we can ensure that no other family has to endure what we’ve been through. We can work toward a safer future for our fellow Americans and seek justice for the countless families who have lost loved ones to cartel violence.
