UPDATE: Man admits to assaulting Pine Ridge woman

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Monica Titus, whom KELOLAND News had introduced to viewers and readers in the “Emergency & Hope on Pine Ridge” series, was attacked with a machete on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 2023.

“The stitches are all still there,” Titus said in 2023. “So, that part where it’s dented … part of my scalp is gone.”

KELOLAND News sat down with her in December 2023 in Pine Ridge where she told Lauren Soulek and Dan Santella about the attack at her home.

“I got hit with a machete on the front of my face and on the back of my head,” Titus said in 2023.

Four months after the interview with Titus, 18-year-old Ronald Janis was charged with burglary and assault. It wasn’t his first time facing charges; federal court documents say his troubles with the law started when he was 15, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office says “show his identity, motive, and intent in the present assaults and burglaries.”

When does the I-229 and Cliff Avenue project start?

Janis initially pleaded not guilty to the new charges, but in recent court papers, he admits that he “intentionally and voluntarily struck Monica Titus on the top of the head with a sharp-edged object,” prompting medical care that saved her life.

As part of a plea agreement, Janis will admit to assault and several other charges will be dropped. Janis now faces the possibility of 10 years in prison. For Titus, the attack could have been worse. But that doesn’t make it any less jarring for her or her loved ones.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to wake up,” she said in 2023.

KELOLAND News attempted to reach out to Titus on Wednesday to see how she is doing but as of early Wednesday evening hasn’t been able to reach her.