Crime Janelle Monée Mourns the Death of Her Cousin Killed in Drive-By Shooting: 'Gun Violence Has Struck Home' The singer's 37-year-old cousin Natasha Hays was gunned down in Kansas City on Tuesday night By Jordan Runtagh Jordan Runtagh Twitter Jordan Runtagh is an Executive Podcast Producer at iHeartRadio, where he hosts a slate of pop culture shows including Too Much Information, Inside the Studio, Off the Record and Rivals: Music's Greatest Feuds. Previously, he served as a Music Editor at PEOPLE and VH1.com. He's written about art and entertainment for more than a decade, regularly contributing to outlets like Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, and appearing as a guest on radio and television. Over the course of his career, he's profiled the surviving Beatles, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Roger Waters, David Byrne, Pete Townshend, Debbie Harry, Quincy Jones, Brian May, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Taylor and many more. A graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, he lives in Brooklyn, where he can be found DJing '60s soul records. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 1, 2016 01:45 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock Singer Janelle Monée is in mourning over the loss of her cousin, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Kansas City, Kansas on Tuesday night. Natasha Hays, 37, and her teenage children were asleep when an unknown individual opened fire on the house at 3:45 a.m., Fox4 reports. According to the outlet, the teens – ages 18, 16, and 14 years old – were unharmed but awoken by the gunfire and cried out for their mother. The 14-year-old reportedly entered Hays’ bedroom and discovered her body. Monée, an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, took to Twitter on Wednesday to grieve and express her frustration about rising death toll due to firearms in the United States. “Gun violence has struck home,” she began. “My beautiful 1st cousin was murdered. She was a mother of 3. Loved by her community. #NatashaHays #sayhername.” She continued with a series of tweets. “#KansasCity #Gunviolence is still keeping our city in a dark place. The fear of “who is next?” never leaves. Praying4more light. Help us.” Last year, Monée, 30, released "Hell You Talmbout" – a protest song that referenced Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner and other names of black individuals killed by police violence and hate crimes. The Kansas City Police Department tells PEOPLE that there are no suspects in Hays’ murder at this time.