An Upper Lake man convicted of the brutal murder of the mother of his children was sentenced to state prison yesterday. As reported in the Lake County News, Willy Tujays Timmons was given 16 years to life in state prison for killing Vanessa Yvette Niko in 2017. Niko, a member of the Habematolel Pomo tribe, has become Lake County’s prime example of a victim of the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, also known as MMIW, which often is rooted in domestic violence. Niko’s cousin, Ida Morrison, and mother Coveda Miller were present at the sentencing. Morrison was a driving force in the creation of a mural in downtown Upper Lake that portrays Niko and brings awareness to the issue of MMIW.