Janett Reyna’s alleged killer, Luis Octavio Frias, is still on the run and Reyna’s three children are still in protective custody with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

PONCA CITY, Okla. – Love should not hurt.

Carrying signs to that effect, along with enlarged photos of victims and purple helium-filled balloons, more than 75 men, women and children walked more than a mile Friday near Ponca City High School as part of the second annual Six Nations Walk Against Domestic Violence.

“Today we are naming abuse for what it is,” Pawnee Nation victims advocate Chelsea Baldwin said. “We are here to name and shame it.”

Co-sponsored by the Kaw Nation, Otoe-Missouria Tribe, Osage Nation, Pawnee Nation, Ponca Tribe and Tonkawa Tribe, the walk relocated this year to Pioneer Park from Standing Bear Park and Cultural Museum. Ponca City is within the jurisdictional areas of the Osage Nation and the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma. The other four co-host tribes are all headquartered within 40 miles of the Kay County community. 

With 49 percent of all Oklahoma women and 40 percent of Oklahoma men experiencing some form of partner violence in their lifetime, the state ranks third nationally in per capita deaths due to domestic violence. Only Alaska and South Carolina have higher per capita rates of domestic abuse-related homicides.

The walk comes as domestic violence advocates and tribal members in north-central Oklahoma still work to come to terms with the death of Janett Reyna, the domestic violence program coordinator for the Ponca Tribe. One of the primary coordinators of last year’s Six Nations Walk, Reyna was stabbed to death on Aug. 8 by her boyfriend in front of two of their three children. Friday’s walk was held in her memory.

“Last year, when my daughter became the domestic violence coordinator, she was so happy and so proud and so excited,” Reyes’ mother, Patricia McIntyre, said. “We would talk everyday. She was my best friend and my daughter.

“It makes me happy to be here for her, but I wish she was here. It breaks my heart. I wish I was walking with her.”

With Reyna’s alleged killer, Luis Octavio Frias, still on the run, Reyna’s three children are still in protective custody with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. McIntyre has had limited visits with her grandchildren, but still sees the impact that their mother’s death has on the children.

“The middle one, Chloe, she’s the one who will say every now and again ‘My daddy killed my mommy.’ It’s been hard.

“She says ‘My daddy needs to go to jail,’ and ‘He’s a bad daddy.’ I just listen to her, I don’t respond to those comments. She’ll try to cheer herself up by acting silly and goofy…but she is fighting it. I can tell.”

A first degree murder warrant is still out for Octavio Frias’ arrest and bond is set at $5,000,000. He stands about 5 feet, 11 inches and weighs around 200 pounds. Any one with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-522-8017.

Atocha Maria Beltran and Neshia Niemeyer have been charged in Kay County, Okla., as accessories in connection with Reyna’s death. Beltran has a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Newkirk, Okla.

“Her (Reyna’s) death makes this issue up close and personal to the point that if I close my eyes, I think of her and see her picture in my mind,” Native Alliance Against Domestic Violence Executive Director Dawn Stover said. “Our work continues because the violence continues.”

 ---

Contact information for tribal domestic violence programs in north-central Oklahoma

Osage Nation: 866-897-4747

Otoe-Missouria Tribe: 580-723-4466 ext. 132

Pawnee Nation: 855-810-4144

Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma: 580-761-3144

Tonkawa Tribe: 580-628-3619


More than 75 men, women and children walked more than a mile Friday near Ponca City High School as part of the second annual Six Nations Walk Against Domestic Violence.

NATIVE TIMES PHOTO BY LENZY KREHBIEL-BURTON