![\"reneesanssouci\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/06\/reneesanssouci-scaled.jpg\")
\r\n<\/p>\r\nLINCOLN, Nebraska \u2013 She last saw her uncle four days before his murder.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nJoseph Solomon Jr. was eating at a soup kitchen in Lincoln, and Renee Sans Souci and her children met him there.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nThe 58-year-old man had stitches on his head following a random attack. Sans Souci told her uncle to be careful living on the streets. She and her children had recently moved back to Lincoln, and she told her uncle that she wanted her children to get to know him better.\r\n
<\/p>\r\nFour days later, Solomon was stabbed to death in an apartment after trying to protect someone.\r\n
<\/p>\r\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know that that was going to be the last time that I talked to him,\u201d Sans Souci said. \u201cIt really broke my heart, literally.\u201d\r\n
<\/p>\r\nSix months later, Sans Souci ended up at a hospital, suffering from heart problems.\r\n
<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\nBecause she had only recently moved to Lincoln and was homeless, she didn\u2019t have access to her Omaha tribal ceremonies. So instead of praying and practicing the rituals that would have helped her address her grief at the loss of her uncle, she was forced to let that pain fester and cause her heart problems, Sans Souci said.\r\n <\/p>\r\n\u201cThose experiences that we have with our loved ones, and when they\u2019re hurt or killed that way, it does something to you, to your spirit, to your mind, to your body,\u201d she said.\r\n <\/p>\r\nAnd Sans Souci has made it her mission to help address the spiritual needs of those who\u2019ve lost loved ones to murder or other suspicious causes.\r\n <\/p>\r\nShe shared her story Wednesday night at the Lincoln Indian Center<\/a> before a dozen people as part of a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People prayer vigil. The event was held on the Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls National Day of Action<\/a>.\r\n <\/p>\r\nIn some tribal communities, American Indian women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average, according to a study released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Between 1979 and 1992, homicide was the third-leading cause for Native females ages 15 to 34, and 75 percent were killed by family members or acquaintances.\r\n <\/p>\r\n "Everyone deserves to feel safe": Secretary Deb Haaland is taking additional steps to address the #MMIW<\/a> crisis in hopes of putting the focus back on survivors, families and tribal nations. @SecDebHaaland<\/a> #MMIWG<\/a> #MMIWG2S<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/eAIbaKxejC<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) May 5, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>![\"mmiwlincolnindiancenter\"](\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/06\/mmiwlincolnindiancenter-scaled.jpg\")
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