Artist Janelle Monáe has revealed that a member of her family was murdered in a senseless act of gun violence this week. 

Her cousin, mother-of-three Natasha Hays, was killed in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday in Kansas City, Kansas and killed in a drive-by shooting Tuesday in Kansas City and Monáe took to her official Twitter page earlier today to address the heartbreaking situation:

"Gun violence has struck home. My beautiful 1st cousin was murdered. She was a mother of 3. Loved by her community. #NatashaHays #sayhername. #KansasCity #Gunviolence is still keeping our city in a dark place. The fear of "who is next?" never leaves. Praying4more light. Help us."

Monáe continued, adding that "evil has no race": "Nobody deserves to lose their mother, sister, cousin, friend, etc to the hands of evil. Evil has no race. Hearing your uncle on the phone while he tries to make sense of his daughter being murdered is the most helpless feeling in the entire world."

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Watch Monáe's music video for "Yoga" here: