Prayer Nickelsen was 17 when she was shot during a domestic disturbance at a home on South Connor Avenue in Joplin, Missouri. Emergency responders were called for reports of gunfire the evening of January 9, 2022; she was found with a single gunshot wound, taken to a local hospital in critical condition, and pronounced dead the next morning, January 10, 2022.

A 59-year-old man, Todd J. Mayes, was detained at the scene and later arrested. Court documents say an argument between Mayes and his daughter escalated after Prayer allegedly threw a glass bottle at him, and Mayes then retrieved a firearm and shot her in the abdomen. The Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

At trial Mayes asserted self-defense; the jury convicted him of the lesser-included offense of second-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. Mayes appealed, challenging a trial ruling that allowed a detective to demonstrate how he held the weapon; on December 2, 2024, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, affirmed the conviction.

If anyone knew Prayer, her routines, or was in the South Connor Avenue area that evening, please share information that might shed light on what happened.