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It was just after midnight on September 14, 2003. Most of the world knew the Williams family as an unstoppable force of nature on the tennis court. But in the real world—specifically on East Greenleaf Boulevard in Compton—things were a lot more complicated. That night, a white GMC Yukon was idling near a suspected drug house. Inside were Yetunde Price, the eldest of the five Williams sisters, and her boyfriend, Rolland Wormley.
Then the gunfire started.
People often get the details of the Serena Williams sister death mixed up with movie plots or urban legends, but the reality is much more sobering. Yetunde wasn't a tennis star. She was a mother of three. She was a registered nurse. She owned a hair salon. Honestly, she was the glue that kept the sisters grounded even as they became global icons. When those shots rang out, everything changed for the family forever.
The Night Everything Changed in Compton
Yetunde Price was 31. She was sitting in the passenger seat when Robert Edward Maxfield, a member of the South Side Compton Crips, opened fire with an assault rifle. Maxfield later claimed he was "defending" the house from rival gang members. He thought the SUV belonged to the Lime Hood Pirus.
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It didn't.
It belonged to a woman who had spent her day working and taking care of her kids. Rolland Wormley, her boyfriend, initially didn't even realize she’d been hit. He sped away from the scene, desperate to get to safety, only to look over and see the back window shattered and blood everywhere. He drove to a relative's house in Long Beach to call 911, but it was too late. Yetunde was pronounced dead at the hospital from a gunshot wound to the head.
It’s easy to look back now and think of the Williams sisters as living in a different world, but back then, the tragedy of the Serena Williams sister death was a brutal reminder of where they came from. Even though Venus and Serena had moved out of Compton years prior to train in Florida, Yetunde stayed. She was fiercely independent. She wanted to pay her own way, even refusing full financial support from her millionaire sisters.
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A Legal Nightmare: Three Trials for Justice
The court case was a mess. Straight up. It took three tries to get a conviction against Maxfield. The first two trials ended in mistrials because juries couldn't agree on a verdict. Imagine being the Williams family, sitting through those hearings, watching the legal system stall over and over.
- Trial 1 (2004): Jurors were split. Six wanted to acquit, five wanted to convict.
- Trial 2 (2005): Even closer—11 to 1 in favor of conviction, but still a mistrial.
- The Resolution (2006): Maxfield finally pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter.
He was sentenced to 15 years. He ended up serving about 12 before being paroled in 2018.
The timing of his release was actually quite shocking for Serena. She found out he was being let out just ten minutes before she walked onto the court for a match against Johanna Konta. She ended up losing 6-1, 6-0—the worst defeat of her entire career. She later admitted she couldn't shake the news. "No matter what, my sister is not coming back for good behavior," she told Time. It’s a raw sentiment that anyone who has lost someone to violence can feel in their bones.
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Why the Serena Williams Sister Death Still Matters Today
The family didn't just let the story end with a police report. In 2016, they opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton. It’s not a tennis facility. It’s a place for people who have been traumatized by community violence. They offer everything from counseling to job training.
Kinda incredible, right? They took the worst moment of their lives and built a bridge for other people in the same neighborhood to get out.
If you watch the movie King Richard, you’ll see Yetunde (played by Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew) portrayed as the supportive, wise older sister. Serena has said she cried the entire time watching it. It’s a heavy legacy to carry. Most people focus on the 23 Grand Slams, but for the Williams family, the Serena Williams sister death is the shadow that follows every win.
What We Can Learn From the Tragedy
- Grief isn't linear. Even 20+ years later, Serena and Venus talk about Yetunde in the present tense. Trauma stays.
- Community roots run deep. Yetunde stayed in Compton because she loved her community, even with its dangers.
- Turning pain into purpose. The resource center is a blueprint for how celebrities can actually impact their hometowns beyond just writing a check.
The case of Yetunde Price is a stark reminder that violence doesn't care about your tax bracket or your last name. It’s a random, senseless thief. If you’re looking to support the cause, looking into the Yetunde Price Resource Center is the best way to honor her memory. They do real work on the ground in South LA, helping families navigate the same kind of "senseless acts" that took Yetunde away too soon.
Focus on the legacy, not just the tragedy. That's how the family survives it.