Kendra Owen

Kendra Rae Owen was a young woman with a bright smile who was known for her kindness and resilience. Born on March 6, 1992, the 28-year-old was a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. She graduated from Sisseton High School in 2011 and later moved to Watertown, South Dakota. Kendra had worked at a daycare, a thrift store, the Human Service Agency, and the Dakota Sioux Casino. Her family remembers her love for going on walks, collecting posters and DVDs, and participating in the Special Olympics. She lived with a mental disability, and those who knew her recalled how her constant smile could make them smile, too. Her grandmother, Romana St. John, said she raised Kendra as a child.

In late August 2020, Kendra was brutally murdered in her downtown apartment on North Broadway in Watertown. She was last seen alive on August 24, 2020. Friends and family grew concerned when they couldn't reach her. On September 2, a social worker discovered her decomposing body inside her apartment; she had been stabbed 16 times and decapitated. Investigators believed she had been deceased for several days.

The Watertown Police Department and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) handled the case. Their investigation quickly led them to a suspect, Jeremiah Peacemaker. Surveillance video showed him with Kendra at a bar and later going to her apartment on the night she was likely killed. Peacemaker was arrested on September 3, 2020, and charged with first-degree murder. He told investigators he had met Kendra for the first time on August 23, walked with her to Doc's Lounge to buy beer, and later walked her home, where he stayed for about 20 minutes before leaving. He maintained his innocence from the beginning.

After spending more than three years in jail awaiting trial, Jeremiah Peacemaker's case went before a jury in February 2024. The state's case, prosecuted by South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, including a fingerprint on a toothpaste tube in Kendra's bathroom that the prosecution claimed was in her blood. However, the defense argued the investigation was deeply flawed. They pointed to a lack of a murder weapon, which was never found, and criticized law enforcement for failing to test numerous items of evidence from the scene and for not pursuing other potential leads. In March 2024, after 10 hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Peacemaker of all charges.

The verdict left Kendra's family devastated and her murder officially unsolved. The investigation and prosecution drew heavy criticism for what many, including defense experts, described as a myopic focus on one suspect while ignoring other possibilities. Issues cited included poor evidence collection, improper handling of evidence, and overstated analytical reports from the state's crime lab. Peacemaker later filed a lawsuit against the city and state officials, alleging a botched investigation and that exculpatory evidence had been hidden or ignored.

Six years after her death, Kendra's family continues to fight for justice. On August 28, 2026, her mother, Jewel DeMarrias, organized the first annual Kendra Owen Memorial Walk in Watertown. The event drew about 150 people, who walked from Doc's Bar, one of the last places Kendra was seen, past her former apartment, to a local park. Her aunt, Crystal Owen, spoke at the gathering, highlighting the pain of not having answers and the disproportionate number of unsolved cases involving Indigenous people in South Dakota. "That breaks our hearts because people are hurting, we're hurting wondering who did this to Kendra," she said. Jewel DeMarrias expressed her determination, stating, "If we want change, we're just going to have to continue to get together and keep pushing for change... I'm going to have to keep speaking out. Not just for Kendra but for everyone." As of August 2026, Kendra Owen's case remains cold, with no active investigation.