Mexico unveils monument to the Mormon massacre victims including three mothers and six children who were assassinated by cartel gunmen

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador unveiled a monument in memory of the nine Mormon U.S.-Mexican dual citizens who were ambushed and assassinated in November 2019 by alleged members of a gang linked to a drug cartel. 

The monument was inaugurated Thursday morning in La Mora, a town in the northern state of Sonora - just south of the border region with New Mexico and near the site where the assassins ambushed three Mormon mothers and their six children on a rural road.

Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich said the monument 'is a testament to the need that this never be forgotten, that this always be remembered, and that it never be repeated.'

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Pavlovich unveiled a memorial in La Mora, Sonora, near the site where cartel assassins ambushed three mothers and their six children on a rural road

The Mexican government officially unveiled Thursday in Sonora a monument with the likenesses of the three mothers and nine children with U.S.-Mexican dual citizenship who were killed by cartel gunmen on November 5, 2019

Pictured: The three mothers and six young children who were savagely murdered by Mexican drug cartel gunmen on November 4, 2019

Members of La Línea, an armed gang linked to the Juárez Cartel, intercepted a fleet of three SUVs on a remote mountainous road in Bavispe, and attacked three women and six children from the extended Langford, LeBarón and Miller families.

The gunmen killed Christina Marie Langford Johnson after she stepped out of her vehicle to confront the shooters, while her seven-month-old daughter Faith Langford survived. 

Dawna Ray Langford was driving her SUV with her nine children and was shot and killed after she was ambushed near Langford Johnson's vehicle. 

Ray Langford's two sons, Trevor, 11, and Rogan, 3, were assassinated, while the other seven children escaped, including five who were wounded.

Members of the LeBarón family search through the burned car where five of the nine Mormon mothers and children were killed and burned during an ambush launched by a cartel gang in Bavispe, Sonora, on November 4, 2019

Approximately 10 miles down the road, an SUV driven by Rhonita Miller LeBarón was shot up, killing the 30-year-old mother and her four children - eight-month-old twins Tiana Miller and Titus Miller, Howard Jr. Miller, 12, and Krystal Miller, 10. 

The vehicle was then torched with the family inside. 

Amber Ray, the sister of victim Ray Langford, said the monument was 'a reminder that, even in a time of great tragedy, we can unite and defend ourselves against violence.'

Tristan Miller, Amaryllis Miller, and Zack Miller (pictured clockwise) stand in front of a monument that was unveiled Thursday in Sonora, Mexico, in honor of their mother, Rhonita Miller LeBarón, and four siblings, eight-month-old twins Tiana Miller and Titus Miller, Howard Jr. Miller, 12, and Krystal Miller, 10, and two other women and two children who were gunned down by cartel gunmen in November 2019

Initial investigations suggest that a squad of gunmen from La Línea, which originated in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, set up the ambush to kill members of a rival cartel. However, relatives of the victims say that at some point, the gunmen must have known who they were killing.

Mexican authorities say that 17 suspects have been arrested, and that 15 more arrest warrants for other suspects have been issued.

López Obrador said the killings showed the need to offer young people in Mexico education or job opportunities, so they would not be recruited to drug gangs. In the meantime, he said, 'we are going to continue with until the whole truth comes out, and justice is done.'

Mexico unveiled Thursday a monument for the nine Mormon mothers and children massacred in Bavispe, Sonora, by a cartel on November 5, 2019

In fact, few of the average of about 100 homicides that occur every day in Mexico receive the attention, investigation or prosecution that the massacre of the dual-citizens has gotten.

But the president pledged that the era when officials would ally themselves with one drug gang to attack another had ended.

The extended community of mostly bilingual American-Mexicans have lived in northern Mexico for decades and consider themselves Mormons, though they are not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The monument reflected the community's roots and religious beliefs. A figure apparently depicting the Angel Moroni stands atop a swirling column, at the bottom of which are figures of the victims. Moroni is considered an important figure in the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement.

The community's origins date to the official end of polygamy over a century ago by the LDS church, which prompted many families that continued the practice to establish colonies elsewhere. Many of those in northern Mexico have by now, over the generations, abandoned polygamy as well.