‘It’s trauma’: Louisville family says fear persists nearly a year after loved one’s killing
By DeAndria Turner
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WLKY) — Nearly a year after Redaja Williams was shot and killed while walking her daughter to a bus stop, her family says the violence has not stopped, and neither has their fear.
Williams’ grandfather, who asked not to be identified because he fears for the family’s safety, said relatives continue to feel targeted after another recent shooting at a family home in Louisville’s Village West neighborhood.
“You killed my granddaughter. You shot up my grandson. What do you want from us?” he said. “Why are they being targeted?”
Last August, Williams was killed while walking with her sister and taking her daughter and niece to the bus stop, the family said. Her grandfather said the children still carry the trauma of that morning.
“They’ll never forget that,” he said. “Her daughter talks about her mother all the time.”
Now, the family says, fear has taken over daily life. Bullet holes remain in the door, wall and a bedroom window of the home that was shot at last week. Children in the family no longer walk to the bus stop, relatives said, because they are afraid of more gunfire.
“They can’t catch the bus like every other kid,” the grandfather said. “Afraid something is going to happen to them.”
The youngest child in the home is 8 years old, and relatives say the house no longer feels safe.
“You know how hard it is to just be locked in your home when you can’t go nowhere and do nothing? It’s trauma,” a family member said.
The family says the city has offered resources, but only in other high-crime areas. They say they want help relocating to a safer place.
“Where do we go from here?” the grandfather said. “Do you help us? Or do you leave us down here waiting on someone else to get killed?”
Esquire Alley in Village West is one of the Louisville Metro Police Department’s five sustained focused improvement areas, and the Russell neighborhood is one of the Office of Violence Prevention’s target areas. Although data shows crime in the area has declined, the family says they do not feel safe.
“It’s just sickening when you just can’t go at your house, you can’t even go carry out your garbage thinking that somebody is going to shoot you,” the grandfather said.
For now, he said, the family is waiting and hoping for help.
“I’m really praying on it that something helps get them out of here,” he said.
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