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Hopkins Grad Killed In Kenya

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The standoff in Kenya continues as terrorists continue to hold a number of people hostage in a shopping mall. Hundreds have been injured and dozens have died, including a Johns Hopkins graduate living in Kenya. She and her boyfriend were killed.

Rochelle Ritchie has more.

That woman was also eight months pregnant. She graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2004 and classmates are mourning her murder.

Gunshots echoed throughout the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, sending hundreds of people running for their lives.

In the mall, 33-year-old Elif Yavuz and her partner, Ross Langdon, were both fatally shot. Yavuz was eight months pregnant.

She graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2004 and dedicated her life to improving the lives of others.

Tuesday, President Bill Clinton acknowledged her life and the recent work. She--with the Clinton Foundation--was looking for ways to fight malaria in eastern Africa.

"I hope they can be a metaphor for what we're all about and I ask you to remember them and their families," Clinton said.

After finishing her European studies with Johns Hopkins, Yavuz later earned a doctorate in public health from Harvard University.

"I think it's been very shocking. I think that is the word we saw in a lot of emails being exchanged," said Dr. Jessica Cohen.

Langdon was also committed to providing people with better lives; he designed an HIV/AIDS hospital pro bono in east Africa.

Yavuz was expected to have her baby in two weeks.

A terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda is said to be responsible for the mass shooting.

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