The Haitian National Police (PNH) announced on Wednesday the arrest of a 52-year-old suspect in connection with the murder of an American missionary.

In a social media post in French, PNH named the suspect as Bénice Célestin and accused him of being responsible for the death of a Haitian national.

The police post included a video of the inmate, in which the suspect denied any involvement in the May 23 murders of 23-year-old American missionary Davey Lloyd, his 21-year-old wife Natalie Lloyd, and Jude Monteith, a Haitian national and head of Mission for Haiti. According to He told CBS News it was unclear whether Celestine had been formally charged with any crimes or hired an attorney.

Haitian police have arrested a suspect in the shooting deaths of an American missionary couple and a Haitian man, the head of a nonprofit organization, in an attack by a gunman earlier this year. https://t.co/xZzex9kLjo

—CBS News (@CBSNews) August 22, 2024

Police alleged that Celestine's cell phone was used to make calls after the murder, but he denied the allegations, CBS News reported.

Dave Lloyd's father, David Lloyd, said he was unaware of the circumstances under which authorities arrested Celestine, according to the Associated Press. ReportedHe told the Associated Press that his son contacted him the night of the attack. Lloyd reportedly recalls his son telling him that a gang of about 100 people had let the missionaries through the gates and then looted the mission, but then the phone suddenly went dead. The father told the AP that his son and others had been shot before the gang broke into the missionaries' home. (Related article: US begins evacuating citizens from Haiti as the country falls under violent gang rule)

“They loved the Haitian people and were committed to their country,” Lloyd was quoted as saying about his son and daughter-in-law. The couple will celebrate their second wedding anniversary in June, according to the Associated Press.

“We want justice for what happened,” Natalie's father, Republican Missouri Rep. Ben Baker, told the outlet. Baker expressed cautious optimism about the arrests and was reported to have said he wanted “those responsible to face consequences.”