
Lori Ann Decorah
(Courtesy Danielle LaPointe)
Lori Ann DeCora-Pelkey
Homicide
Lori Ann DeCora
24 YOA
1219/1221 West 4th Street
Sioux City, Iowa
Woodbury County
Case # 92-4726
Attacked Date: February 3, 1992
Death Date: March 10, 1992
Lori Ann DeCora-Pelkey, a 24-year-old mother of two young children, was beaten and stabbed multiple times early on Feb. 3, 1992, after four individuals chased her out of a house party in Sioux City, Iowa.

Lori Ann DeCora and her daughter, Kayla
(Courtesy photo Danielle LaPointe)
A member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, DeCora was at a Sunday night party at 1219/1221 West 4th Street. Around 2:30 a.m. Monday, three female suspects and one male suspect chased her outside.
DeCora, who stood five feet eleven inches tall and loved basketball and football, could not resist the four attackers.
The four suspects were kicking and beating DeCora when one of the females suddenly pulled a knife and repeatedly began stabbing the victim.
DeCora sustained serious injuries and a life-threatening stab wound to her chest but kept breathing.
After the attack, other partygoers attempted to load DeCora into a personal vehicle but were unsuccessful. Someone called for an ambulance, and DeCora was transported to Marian Health (Mercy Medical Center) in Sioux City.
DeCora remained hospitalized in critical condition but succumbed to the stab wound and died on Tuesday, March 10, 1992.
Her attack, now a homicide, became Sioux City Police Department Case number 92-4726.
The following articles detail what happened next.

Courtesy The Sioux City Journal, March 11, 1992

Courtesy The Sioux City Journal, March 13, 1992

Courtesy The Sioux City Journal, April 28, 1992
Five years after Lori DeCora’s murder, Sonja Redowl became the prime suspect in another stabbing death.
The victim in that case: Redowl’s own brother, 27-year-old David Redowl, also of Sioux City.
Both cases remain unsolved.
Loved Life

Lori DeCora as a child
(Courtesy photo Danielle LaPointe)
Lori Ann DeCora wasn’t just a beloved daughter and sister. She was a loving mother to her 9-year-old daughter and 11-month-old son.
She also loved life and tried to live it to the fullest. She had a passion for horses and spent summers riding them at her father’s home in Black River, Wisc., after her parents separated.
She embraced all animals great and small, and had a special place in her heart for cats.
She had a voice and loved to sing along to country music, crooning out her favorites by The Judds and Loretta Lynn.
Her favorite colors were black and white.
In addition to her children, her greatest love was spending time with her sisters.
About Lori Ann Decora (from obituary)
Lori Ann DeCora, Wan ga ja Hu Winga, 24, 501 Omaha St., died Tuesday, March 10, 1992, at a Sioux City hospital.
Services Lori Ann was born Aug. 29, 1967, in Fergus Falls, Minn., the daughter of Clayton and Patricia (Buffalo Chief) DeCora. She lived in Sioux City most of her life and worked at the Sioux City American Indian Center in the Bingo program.
She was a member of the Thunder Clan and participated in the Dakota Traditional religion. She was a member of St. Paul’s Indian Mission and an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Lori DeCora (right, in white) with her daughter Kayla, along with sister Germaine and her daughter Leah (Courtesy photo Danielle LaPointe)
Survivors included her father, Clayton of Black River Falls, Wis.; her mother, Patricia of Sioux City; a son, Ta Canku Wakan Thomas and a daughter, Kayla DeCora, both of Sioux City; two brothers, J.R. and Michael, both of Black River Falls, Wis.; five sisters, Germaine John and Ila Hoffman, both of Sioux City, Eileen Bissonette of Scottsbluff, Neb., Kathleen DeCora of Sioux City, and Michelle DeCora from Black River, Wis.
Visitation was held all day on Friday, March 13, 1992, at St. Paul’s Indian Mission, with a wake service at 8 p.m. Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel was in charge of arrangements.
Services were held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 14, 1992, at St. Paul’s Indian Mission with the Rev. F. David Titus, pastor, and Albert Thomas, lay reader, officiating.
Lori was laid to rest in the Ponca Indian Cemetery at Niobrara, Neb.
Lori is forever missed by her daughter (her son has since passed on), her sisters, and all who knew her and cared about her.
Information Needed
If you have any information about Lori Ann DeCora’s unsolved murder, please contact the Sioux City Police Department at (712) 279-6390.
Sources:
- Sioux City Police Department
- Iowa Attorney General’s Office
- Correspondence with DeCora family members
- Find a Grave Memorial
- “Grand jury drops charges against woman,” The Sioux City Journal, April 28, 1992
- Lori Ann DeCora obituary, The Sioux City Journal, Friday, March 13, 1992
- “Sioux City woman’s death ruled homicide,” The Sioux City Journal, March 13, 1992
- “Stab victim dies; charges reconsidered,” The Sioux City Journal, March 11, 1992
Thank you for this, I have looked on here so many time, only to not find this. Lori was my mother, I am Kayla, Thank you Danielle.
I never knew this Kayla. I am so sorry honey.