J. Christopher Stevens was an American diplomat and lawyer, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Libya from June 2012 till his death in September that year. Stevens initially worked as an attorney and was a member of the California State Bar. After joining the United States Foreign Service in 1991, he served in various diplomatic posts in Israel, Syria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. From 2007 to 2009, Stevens worked as the deputy chief of mission in Libya, and in 2011, he was sent to Libya again, as a special representative to the National Transitional Council. Stevens was appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Libya in April 2012. He assumed office in June. However, a terrorist attack, orchestrated by members of an al-Qaeda affiliate named Ansar al-Sharia, on the night of September 11, 2012, took his life. The militants set the U.S. compound in Benghazi on fire. Stevens, IT specialist Sean Smith, and a security officer took refuge in the bathroom of a building within the compound. However, though the security officer managed to escape, rescuers found Sean dead when they arrived at the scene. Stevens could not be located due to the thick smoke. Later, it was found out that a group of Libyan civilians had carried Stevens to a local hospital, but in spite of the best efforts of the doctors to revive him, he died. He now remains buried in Grass Valley, California.