Mom of 2 Shot and Killed While Walking Her Child to the Bus Stop: 'We Want the Killer Caught ASAP' By Charna Flam

A 23-year-old mother of two was killed while taking her child to school. 

Around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, the young mother was taking her 7-year-old daughter to the bus stop near Coleridge-Taylor Montessori Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) said in a statement. 

Redaja “Juicy” Williams was identified as the victim by her family, according to WHAS11. In addition to being a mother to her daughter, she also has a 2-year-old child.

Once LMPD arrived at the scene, Williams was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased, according to LMPD Chief Paul L. Humphrey.

“I screamed, I yelled, I made everybody get down,” witness Kendra LaRue told WLKY. “I have children running this way, children running to the Y. Children running over there, right along with my daughter and a couple of our friends, and then my second reaction is to the person who is on the ground.”

“Every time I close my eyes, I see her, and I hear her breath,” LaRue said. “I hear her gasping for air.”

Authorities initially questioned a 15-year-old boy as the suspect. However, he was later released and then charged in an unrelated shooting in the same area that took place on Aug. 7. LMPD is still looking for the suspect. 

Williams’ sister, Lavett Knuckles, told reporters she witnessed the fatal shooting.

“I had to watch my sister lay on that ground and take her last breath,” Knuckles said, per WKLY. “There was nothing I could do about it.”

“This is my daughter’s bus stop as well. She witnessed this, too,” Knuckles said. “She’s traumatized, so many questions.”

“We want the killer caught ASAP,” Williams’ mother, Schreida Simmons, said, per WHAS11. She also said that her daughter “was the life of the party.”

“She’d light up the room every time she came in – you’d know it was Juicy,” Williams’ cousin, Twand Howard, said.

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Williams’ aunt, Donna Cole, asked the public to remember her niece and her legacy while she spoke at a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 14.

“I’m traumatized. I live in fear. Not that they’re going to do anything to me, but to another person’s child,” Cole said. “Be angry every day. Be proactive in your community. Be proactive in your neighborhood. Don’t talk about it. Be about it.”

At the press conference, Williams’ great-uncle, Kenneth Simmons, and Williams’ uncle urged the suspect to come forward. “If you’re real men, say who done it. Please. ‘Cause it may be your child next.”

“You can’t even go to the grocery store without somebody wanting to shoot you, or rob you, or carjack you,” Williams’ grandfather, Bruce Simmons, said, per WAVE. “It’s gotta stop somewhere.”

On Wednesday, Humphrey confirmed that the children who witnessed the shooting will be offered counseling from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), the nearby YMCA and the Office of Violence Prevention. “I know JCPS has counselors within their schools that’ll make sure that they get with these kids and offer the support that they need to get through this tragedy,” he said. 

“Understand you don’t get through something like this as a young person. This is something that changes you forever,” Humphrey said.

“So whether it’s the formal support that we’ll get whether it’s provided by Louisville Metro or JCPS or private institutions, these kids are forever impacted by this,” he concluded. “And we have to recognize that and we have to recognize that as a community that. That formal support is not where it should stop and we should continue with that.”

LMPD requests anyone with information to use their anonymous tip line at 502-574-LMPD or the online anonymous crime tip hotline.

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A representative for the Louisville Metro Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Thursday.