WOODVILLE – When 19-year-old Keniyah Brenae Williams died on the night of Tuesday, May 27, she left behind a grieving family, a host of friends and two young children.
After her death, her mother, Ashley Lacey said her daughter “had a village around her” that will come together and look after and take care of her children.
Williams died from a gunshot wound to the head, and her partner, Kristopher Drayton, is in custody in the Jasper County Jail on a manslaughter charge, after he told officers with the Jasper Police Department, where the incident occurred, that his gun “went off and struck Keniyah” while the two were in a car, with their two-month-old son. Williams also left behind a two-year-old son.
When news of Williams’ death became public, it sent shockwaves through the Woodville community, where many friends and family members used social media to post tributes to social media, and remembered the young mother as a hard-worker and kindhearted, devoted mother.
Toward the end of helping Williams’s two children, a Go Fund Me fundraiser has been launched by Dominique Cruse.
Cruse said that Williams’s death was heartbreaking, and that she was “a devoted mother, daughter and friend, who left us far too soon.”
Williams’s children, who are now being cared for by their grandmother, “are now facing an unimaginable new reality without her.”
The fundraiser, which has a goal set at $6,000 can be found through the platform under the name “Support Keniyah’s Children After Her Loss.” It is set up to help offset childcare and daily living expenses, as well as grief counseling, emotional support services and any other unexpected needs that might arise for the children.
Cruse said that every donation, regardless of how much, will make a difference “in helping this family stay afloat and begin to heal.” She also encouraged anyone to share the link to the campaign, which will also help.
