Janelle Monae Mourns Murdered Cousin: 'Gun Violence Has Struck Home'

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Janelle Monae is in mourning.

The "Q.U.E.E.N." singer took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that her cousin, Natasha Hays, had been murdered.


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"Gun violence has struck home," she passionately tweeted. "My beautiful 1st cousin was murdered. She was a mother of 3. Loved by her community. #NatashaHays #sayhername."

According to local news reports, Hays, 38, and her three children, ages 18, 16, and 14, were asleep inside their Kansas City, Kansas, home when someone fired shots into Hays’ bedroom at around 3:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

The shots quickly killed Hays, who was discovered dead by her children after they called out to her, frightened by the shots. It was Hays' 14-year-old who went into their mother’s room, and found her lying still under the covers.

While Hays' other cousins say they believe they know who took her life, her killer still remains free.


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Monae continued to speak out about the senseless act in several more tweets.

"#KansasCity #Gunviolence is still keeping our city in a dark place. The fear of 'who is next?' never leaves. Praying4more light. Help us," she wrote moments later.

"Nobody deserves to lose their mother, sister, cousin, friend, etc to the hands of evil. Evil has no race. #Gunviolence #NatashaHays," she continued.


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Monae left her followers with a heartbreaking image.

"Hearing your uncle on the phone while he tries to make sense of his daughter being murdered is the most helpless feeling in the entire world," she wrote.


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