A 13-year-old girl who was shot by a stray bullet last Thursday has died after spending several days on life support. Her name was Donnesha Williams and she will be laid to rest Today!
Donnesha Williams, an eighth-grader at Holmes Middle School in Flint, died last Saturday. Family, friends, and even some who never met the little girl with a big smile gathered for a candlelight vigil Sunday evening.
“I need to tell the young people to lay down their guns and pickup their bibles,” said Maria Williams, Donnesha’s mother.
Township Police Chief Hap Ashley said it appears Donnesha was not the intended target. Police said Saturday that they had one 16-year-old suspect in custody.
Witnesses told police they heard at least 15 shots fired from the Mt. Morris Township side of College Thursday. Surveillance video nearby showed three men driving on College who got out of a white and blue Caprice Classic-style car and began shooting.
Family members said Donnesha was a sweet girl who loved playing with her friends, shopping and getting her hair done.
“Something has to change because there’s kids around here who can’t go to the store without someone shooting at them,” said Deneiki Johnson, Donnesha’s cousin. “This will show her we loved her, and not just her, but all the kids who die from violence.”
Residents spoke out about Flint’s violence and ways to tackle it.
“There’s so many killings, it has got to stop,” said Mary Calvin Flint. “They’re children. We need to stop our fear of young people. They are asking for our love and support. They’re asking for it in a negative way, but we need to reach out to them.”
Others believe they need to take action and spearhead future acts of violence in order to prevent future acts of violence.
The Rev. Jeffrey Hawkins of Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church and Concerned Pastors for Social Action said education is the solution to preventing violence and that people need to be proactive in violence prevention.
“We can not wait till this happens again,” said Hawkins, whose 14-year-old son was shot and killed two and a half years ago.
The vigil Sunday was a collection of local groups including the Urban League of Flint, Church Without Walls, Raise it up Youth Arts, The Nation of Islam, and Families of Murdered Children.
