Venus and Serena Williams have made a name for themselves in the tennis world, mainly due to the contributions of their parents, Richard Williams and Oracene Price. They do, however, have sisters who have been equally significant in their lives. Thus, the untimely loss of Serena Williams’ half-sister in 2003 shocked everyone, including the Price and the Williams family.

For the entire family and others who knew her, her funeral was very difficult to attend. Richard previously admitted that he skipped his stepdaughter’s funeral because he was grieving and refused to enter the chapel. Yetunde Price was fatally shot while returning home from her childhood neighborhood of Compton.

Richard was anguished by the loss of his stepdaughter

Yetunde was the oldest half-sister to the Williams duo and was a personal assistant to them. Back in 2003, when Richard lost his stepdaughter, he was quite emotional in an interview given to the New York Post. He talked about how he tackled the situation and the tragic loss.

He also gave his reasons for attending his stepdaughter’s funeral. He said, “I wouldn’t go inside because I thought it would be too much for my heart. I stayed outside until it was over with. I’m not going through this OK. It’s just too difficult. I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this. It’ll always be a scar.”

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Richard Williams understandably found it difficult to deal with Yetunde’s untimely demise. Yetunde Price was gunned down in the Compton neighborhood while driving around with her boyfriend on September 14, 2003. Robert Edward Maxfield was subsequently arrested for the fatal shooting and later sentenced to fifteen years in jail for voluntary manslaughter in 2006.

Serena Williams once talked about her half-sister’s heartbreaking demise

During Maxfield’s sentencing, in 2006, Serena Williams spoke about the heartbreaking loss of her half-sister. The 23-time Grand Slam champion claimed that their family was treated unfairly, and how it was extremely difficult for them to get over the setback.

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The former world number one added that she was close to her half-sister when she was a little child and how it was difficult for them to accept the loss.