Haitian national in Orlando grieves for home country in wake of assassination of president

ORLANDO, Fla. - The assassination of Haiti's president Wednesday morning has left the island nation in chaos. President Jovenel Moise was shot dead in his home.  His wife, and the country's first lady, was critically injured.  She was flown to a Miami hospital.   

Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who confirmed the killing, said the police and military were in control of security in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas where a history of dictatorship and political upheaval have long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule.

Pierre Frentz Neptune is a businessman who was born and raised in Haiti. He now lives in Central Florida and flies back and forth between the two countries. He said he was alerted by friends this morning about what happened.

"'Did you hear the news? Did you hear the news?' and I was all confused because that is what everybody is texting me, and I heard his voice and he said, ‘In case you didn’t know, Jovenel is dead!'" he said.

Pierre said he has spent the day watching reports of the assassination and he wonders how something like this could have happened to a top official. 

Pierre said, "I don't care how bad of a president he is.  Put all of the political things aside, he doesn't deserve to die, right? He doesn't deserve to die."

Neptune is now afraid for what this means for his family on the island and his countrymen.

"It's hard. I don't have much to share about it. I cried and I cried. I feel like my heart is being stabbed. because that is the home that I love." 

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