Melissa Woehler, mother of Jina Reyes, sprinkles tobacco into the fire circle at Haskell Indian Nations University on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. "I love you, Jina, my precious daughter. We love you. Have a safe journey," she said.

A woman who was killed Friday was remembered Sunday as a free spirit, a fighter, a good friend and family member, and perhaps most often, as someone who could light up a room and always make people laugh.

About 40 people attended a ceremony at Haskell Indian Nations University to honor Jina Reyes, 35, of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, who was stabbed Friday morning in the 1800 block of Massachusetts Street.

“Jina was my first friend. She made me laugh all the time,” Melinda Mitchell, one of her sisters, said.

The event was attended not just by family and friends, but also by people who were moved by the news of her death. Darla Harrison, a Haskell employee and alumna, was one of the first people to arrive at Haskell’s fire circle, stoking back to life flames that the midday rains had reduced to embers.

“I wanted to be a part of this in respect to her,” Harrison said, later adding that “When these kinds of things happen it touches the whole community.”

photo by: Contributed

Jina Anne Reyes-Woehler

Reyes, it would seem, touched her community not just in death, but in life as well.

“When I had a bad day, I knew I could count on Jina to turn it around,” said Tammy, a friend who didn’t want to give her last name, but said she’d known Reyes for nine years.

Maria Woehler-McCrabb, one of Reyes’ sisters, said she had a character that no one else could match.

“Jina was a wonderful person. A loving sister, a wonderful mother. … I’m going to miss her and cherish those memories that we had together and use those memories to help get through this awful time we’re going through,” she said.

For Leona Antoine, one of Reyes’ friends, those memories included a group trip to a concert. She said the group wasn’t certain they could keep up with Reyes — described as a bit of a wild child by others at the gathering — but by the end of the concert, Reyes had already gone home without them.

“Dang, we outlasted Jina!” Antoine recalled to laughs, “so we were pretty proud.”

Reyes’ life wasn’t without adversity – one person mentioned struggles with addiction and homelessness – but she didn’t let that stop her from being the person she wanted to be for her friends.

Dashante Anderson said she hadn’t known Reyes all that well, but was attending the gathering for a friend who did.

“She told me that Jina really seen her through some really dark times,” Anderson said. “When she was struggling with her own problems where she didn’t know how to find a smile, that’s who she would go to, Jina, and for that time that they spent together, she really lit up her world and just made an amazing impression on her.”

Reyes’ sister Rochelle Moore supported that characterization.

“Jina got knocked down a lot with her struggles, but she always tried to get back up,” she said. “This life that she did have with us says a lot about the person she was. And that’s how I’m going to remember her. She fought hard and she brought a lot of light.”

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Darla Harrison, second from left, was one of the first people to arrive at the fire circle at Haskell Indian Nations University on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, for a gathering to honor Jina Reyes, who was killed Friday. Kyle Carstens, a friend of Reyes, said “She had a free spirit, and she was a warrior, too.”

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

A fire burns at Haskell Indian Nations University on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, for Jina Reyes, who was killed Friday in a stabbing.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Mourners gather at the fire circle at Haskell Indian Nations University on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, to remember Jina Reyes.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

The family of Jina Reyes accepts a gift from Darla Harrison, left, during a remembrance at Haskell Indian Nations University on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025.