Shortly after a jury convicted a man of killing Marlon Whiteeyes, members of his family stood outside the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center to show gratitude to prosecutors and police — and to remember their lost loved one.
“I felt a lot of weight off my shoulders, off my chest, and it felt good,” said Chris Freemont, Marlon's father. “Today is a good day.”
Freemont said since the murder in June 2023, life hasn’t been the same.
Surveillance video showed Yasin Ahmed Abdi of South Sioux City, Neb., shoot Whiteeyes four times near 14th Street and Ingleside Avenue, just north of downtown Sioux City. Investigators say Whiteeyes tried to run away after trying to intervene in a fight between two groups of people out on the street.
“I'm just relieved. And it's over, and now my younger brother can rest. And justice has been served,” Tamara Blackbird said. “It’s almost two years since he has been gone.”
Finding justice for Native American victims of crime
But advocates say justice doesn’t always prevail for Native Americans.
“There are a lot of variables and factors that come into play, and then we come into a situation here, where we lost a loved one due to these acts of violence,” said Josh Taylor, a Red Sky Nation board member.
Officials with the nonprofit say the firearm homicide rate is four times higher for Native Americans.
“We have too many cases here, just locally, of this — the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives — and Marlon's case fell right into that,” Taylor said.
The organization works on community awareness by keeping cold cases involving Native Americans alive.
One high-profile case involved Taylor’s aunt, Terri McCauley, a member of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. She was murdered in 1983 after telling a friend she was meeting a date. Former Sioux City resident Thomas Popp was arrested earlier this year in Washington state for first-degree murder and is set to go on trial June 3.
“For so long, I had to witness my family endure the pain with no answers available to them. But now there’s an indictment and he’s sitting in this jail,” Taylor said. “I anticipate it’s going to be very hard for my family, and the community as a whole. I think, for so long, Native and non-Native members of the community wanted answers, ‘Why did this happen and why does it continue to happen to our community members?’”
Taylor said members of the McCauley family attended Whiteeyes' trial to show their support for another Indigenous person gone too soon.
“They wanted to show solidarity,” Taylor said. “It’s just an unfortunate fact that it’s something we also endure.”
Officials with Red Sky National also feel that, historically, Native Americans have been on the receiving end of violence since the 1600s, with the arrival of Spanish and European colonizers. The National Institute of Justice finds that Native Americans are more than 2.5 times more likely to experience violent crimes than other races.
“I think that that's an issue anywhere you go, but especially in our area — we have reservations within an hour or two-hour drive,” Taylor said. “They come to Sioux City to potentially find homes and create a life here, but other factors come into play instead.”
More awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
Taylor mentioned other local cases Red Sky Nation continues to fight for, including the unsolved murder of Lori Ann DeCora in 1992 and Raven Zephier, who fell from a four-story apartment building in February. The Sioux City Police Department investigated her death as a suicide; however, her family and friends claimed she was pushed.
“The difficult thing with that case is having people come forward and wanting to speak and give more information. I think that's been the biggest struggle police have,” Taylor said. “You have all of these families that have a common concern, a common issue, and together we’ll try and get the answers.”
Red Sky Nation is planning a march to commemorate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day on May 5, in addition to an annual powwow in July.
“These are all places where these families can come together,” Taylor said. “It’s a space for them, that’s meant for them, and will always be for them.”
What's next for Marlon Whiteeyes' killer?
Judge Roger Sailer expected sentencing for 22-year-old Yasin Ahmed Abdi to take place in about six weeks.
Abdi faces a mandatory life sentence with no parole for a conviction of first-degree murder on April 16. The jury spent about 10 hours deliberating the case in a courtroom at the new Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center. At one time, jurors told the judge they weren’t sure if they would all reach a unanimous decision because one juror was holding out.
“You know, it's been a tough week,” Taylor added. “It’s a heartbreaking event that the family had to endure all over again.”
