URBANDALE, Iowa — A group of Liberian immigrants gathered outside an Urbandale Church Sunday, demanding justice after a missionary previously connected to the church was arrested for attempted murder.
About a dozen people stood across from Creekside Church calling for justice for Jessica Lloyd.
Liberian media outlets report that Lucas Richard, a missionary from Louisiana, attacked Lloyd, cutting her throat. They report that Richard is charged with attempted murder.
Witnesses say Lloyd and Richard were in a relationship.
Last week, Creekside said Richard no longer represents the church or receives their support. Church officials said they are working with the U.S. Department of State to address the allegations.
The church also apologized in a statement, saying its original social media post calling for prayer made it seem they were insensitive to the victim and the Liberian community. It says that was not their intent.
Local advocates said they gathered to keep the story alive as Lloyd recovers in the hospital.
“We need accountability. We need for justice to be served. And then we need for Jessica to get proper medical treatment,” a member of the gathering said.
Last week, the State Department told KCCI they are aware of reports of the arrest of an American citizen in Liberia but declined to comment further.
You can read Creekside’s full statement below:
On September 14th, Creekside Church was made aware of a situation involving one of the missionaries we support, Lucas Richard, in Liberia. The information we received from his wife, who was serving with him in Liberia, was that Lucas was attacked and robbed, so we posted a prayer request for our congregation. News later broke that Lucas had been incarcerated and accused of the attempted murder and aggravated assault of a Liberian girl, Jessica Lloyd. He maintains his innocence.
Lucas is not a member of Creekside, but of a church in Liberia which he founded consisting of its own board of elders and accountability structure. Our social media post calling for prayer made it seem to the Liberian community that we are insensitive to the victim and appearing to defend the accused, and by extension dismiss his charges. This was not the case. Prayer is our first priority when confronted with a situation such as this. The church is sensitive to Jessica, who also accuses Lucas Richard of perpetrating the act. For her sake and in light of our relationship with the Richards, it is always our obligation to seek the truth, a task made more difficult considering that the eyewitness accounts are radically different.
We trust the legal system in Liberia to find the truth and render justice regarding the allegations. Sadly, we have confirmed today through an eyewitness from Liberia that Lucas had in fact entered into a marriage with Jessica, which neither we nor Lois had any prior knowledge of. While there are many points of allegations we cannot confirm, since the extramarital relationship has been verified, this alone makes Lucas ineligible to represent our church or receive our support. We are continuing to work with the State Department, contacts in Liberia, and others to seek both truth and justice. Please continue to join us in prayer for all involved.
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