Former first lady Martine Moïse took the stand in Miami federal court on Tuesday, September 29, as the prosecution's key witness in the trial of Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian American pastor accused of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate her husband, President Jovenel Moïse.

Sanon faces eight charges, including conspiring to kidnap or kill a person outside the United States, and has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege he conspired to remove Moïse from power so he could become president himself, even though he was not eligible under Haiti's constitution. His trial was separated from that of four co-defendants convicted earlier this year after it was delayed by health problems.

Moïse broke down as she described the night of July 7, 2021, at the couple's residence near Pétion-Ville. She said she woke to gunfire around 1 a.m., heard her husband tell her they were going to die, and heard the attackers speaking Spanish. She was shot and her elbow was shattered; the president was killed. She testified that none of the 40 to 50 security officers assigned to the residence responded.

Under cross-examination, she acknowledged that her husband had many enemies, particularly wealthy business interests hurt when he canceled contracts. Asked about former President Michel Martelly and former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, she stopped short of direct accusations.

She was expected to return to the stand on Wednesday, and the couple's daughter, who hid during the attack, is also scheduled to testify.

More than 40 people have been charged in the United States in the case, and about a dozen have been convicted. Eighteen suspects held in Haiti, including 17 former Colombian soldiers and Joseph Félix Badio, were extradited to the United States on September 20.