{"id":36929,"date":"2024-03-28T17:50:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T22:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/family-of-murdered-oglala-lakota-woman-host-memorial-to-honor-memory\/"},"modified":"2024-03-28T17:50:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T22:50:07","slug":"family-of-murdered-oglala-lakota-woman-host-memorial-to-honor-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/family-of-murdered-oglala-lakota-woman-host-memorial-to-honor-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of murdered Oglala Lakota woman host memorial to honor memory"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Event at Lamb Park. Family members of Debra Black Crow, an Oglala Lakota woman, gather every March 10 at Floyd Lamb Park on the day she was killed by her ex-husband while 7 months pregnant in 1997. Photo by Darren Thompson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

LAS VEGAS\u2014On Sunday, March 10, a dozen people gathered at Floyd Lamb Park to pay respects to the memory of Debra Black Crow. Black Crow was enrolled citizen of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe, and she was brutally murdered by her-then husband while 7 months pregnant in San Bernardino, California on March 10, 1997. She left behind four children from a previous marriage, and they planted a rosebush in her memory on the anniversary of her death a year ago on March 10, 2023.<\/p>\n

Black Crow\u2019s official cause of death was strangulation, but she was also discovered with 13 stab wounds in a bathtub inside the home she shared with her ex-husband and then doused with cleaning agents. Her ex-husband, Rodney \u201cPatrick\u201d McNeal, would become a suspect less than two years after meeting Debra for the first time and would eventually be charged, convicted and sentenced to prison for the murder of his ex-wife.<\/p>\n

McNeal would gain support a few years after he was sentenced by the California Innocent Project in 2004, where they successfully campaigned Governor Gavin Newsom to commute his sentence saying he was a victim of the criminal justice system. The California Innocence Project has three missions: free the wrongfully-convicted from prison, work to reform the criminal justice system, and train law students to become zealous advocates. They have freed 34 people since 1999.<\/p>\n

Within days of Black Crow\u2019s murder, McNeal filed a life insurance claim, valued at $100,000, and claimed he was the sole beneficiary even though she had four children. However, because timing of filing the claim was so soon after her death, it alerted law enforcement and they then considered him a suspect.<\/p>\n

At the time of Black Crow\u2019s death, her ex-husband was a probation officer for the state of California and also had a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal law. During his trial, his legal defense argued timing, or there wasn\u2019t enough time for McNeal to commit the crime considering when he was last seen at his workplace in downtown San Bernardino to the time of the phone call. According to court documents, it takes approximately 8 minutes to drive from his workplace to the home he shared with Black Crow in Highland, California. He was last documented at his office at 12:15 p.m. and he called the police to report that he found his wife murdered in their home at 12:29 p.m.\u2014leaving only 5 minutes unaccounted for.<\/p>\n

McNeal convinced the California Innocence Project that he was a victim of the racist criminal justice system because he was a black man and his ex-wife was a white woman. The organization hired a media production company to produce four videos to help him get out of prison.<\/p>\n

Then, on March 27, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom commuted the sentence of Rodney Patrick McNeil from 30-years-to-life to 22-years-to-life, which meant he was now eligible for parole. Her family found out about the commutation on television, later that day. The family wasn\u2019t contacted and Debra\u2019s daughter Shantell Haynes contacted South Dakota\u2019s Tribal Relations Committee. Representatives Tamara St. John and Peri Pourier organized Oglala Sioux Tribal President Julian Bear Runner and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier in August 2020 to write a letter to Gov. Newsom asking him to deny McNeal\u2019s parole.<\/p>\n

Gov. Newsom later reversed parole for Rodney Patrick McNeil on January 29, 2021, distinguishing that the crime he was convicted for occurred in the context of a national epidemic. \u201cMr. McNeal\u2019s violent conduct toward Ms. Black Crow McNeal not only ended her life, but also had a devastating impact on her family, community, and Tribal Nation,\u201d said Gov. Newsom in his reversal decision on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. \u201cI have considered the evidence in the record that is relevant to whether Mr. McNeal is currently dangerous. When considered as a whole, I find the evidence shows that he currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time. Therefore, I reverse the decision to parole Mr. McNeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNeal has since been released from prison and lives in the Las Vegas area, where Debra\u2019s children also live. In the last few years, Shantell has had to advocate for criminal justice reform including creating what she calls a \u201cmurder registry\u201d. Similar to a sex offender registry, she feels the public should also have awareness of who has been convicted and released from custody for murder.<\/p>\n

Debra\u2019s children said they\u2019ll continue to honor her mother for years to come, and invite community members to the space every March 10\u2014her anniversary\u2014to visit with one another and build community. Near her rosebush reads Debra\u2019s information; \u201cIn Memory Of Debra Marie BlackCrow Sunrise September 11, 1958 Sunset March 10, 1997.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a young woman who was just trying to be the best mother, sister, and contributing member to society she could be,\u201d said Debra\u2019s daughter Shantell Haynes of her mother to Native Sun News Today. \u201cShe loved her kids, she loved all kids, she loved her community, she loved life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIts just tragic that the system reduced her to a statistic for political gains,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Previous reporting on Debra Black Crow was done via Unicorn Riot and Native News Online. This reporting was supported by the International Women\u2019s Media Foundation\u2019s Fund for Indigenous Journalists: Reporting on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two Spirit and Transgender People (MMIWG2T).<\/p>\n

The post Family of murdered Oglala Lakota woman host memorial to honor memory<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Event at Lamb Park. Family members of Debra Black Crow, an Oglala Lakota woman, gather every March 10 at Floyd Lamb Park on the day she was killed by her ex-husband while 7 months pregnant in 1997. Photo by Darren Thompson LAS VEGAS\u2014On Sunday, March 10, a dozen people gathered <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> March 28, 2024<\/p>\n

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