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Friends, family grieve for murdered student
LSA senior Tamara Sonya Williams pleaded for her life yesterday, but nothing would stop her boyfriend. Not even the threat of a campus police officer's bullet.
The 20-year-old ran bleeding upstairs from her basement and desperately knocked on a neighbor's window before she was stabbed to death about 200 feet from the front door of her North Campus apartment complex - where a Department of Public Safety officer fatally shot Kevin Nelson after he refused to drop the knife.
Mourners gather at night vigil
Less than 24 hours after a brutal murder cut her life short, mourners gathered near the scene of the crime to hold a candlelight vigil for Tamara Sonya Williams.
At dusk, family, friends and members of the University community gathered to honor and remember Williams with poetry, condolences and memories.
Murder alarms students, sparks parental fears
For those who called Tamara Williams a friend, an employee or a student, and even for those who didn't know her, the LSA senior's death early yesterday morning can only be described as shocking.
"To have overcome so much and struggled so hard, it's a shame," said Dwight Fontenot, assistant director of advising for the Comprehensive Studies Program, a program in which Williams participated since her first year at the University.
Nelson incident marks first time DPS officer fired weapon while on duty
Yesterday's double homicide marks the first time a Department of Public Safety official has fired a gun while on duty.
DPS officers began carrying weapons in 1990 after the University Board of Regents voted to deputize the department, giving DPS officers the authority to make arrests and carry weapons.
Campus experts decry abuse, offer assistance
LSA senior Tamara Williams' tragic death at the hands of her boyfriend is not an uncommon end to domestic abuse cases.
Deaths resulting from domestic violence occur nationwide, said a University sexual assault expert.
Letter lamented Nelson's abuse
Events unsettle quiet neighborhood
The laughter of small children that usually is so abundant in the Northwood apartment complex on North Campus was replaced yesterday with tears, shock and grief.
Friends and neighbors of Tamara Sonya Williams, a 20-year-old LSA senior, wondered how the life of such an "excellent friend" and a "caring and giving" person could end in such horrific tragedy.
Family members cope with loss of Williams: Family said they had no knowledge of abusive relationship between Williams and Nelson
DETROIT - Her mother, grandmother and sisters remember a woman on the brink of success.
Tamara's mother, Yvonne Williams, sat teary-eyed and motionless last night as she described losing her middle daughter.
Best friend shocked, hurt by violent death
The eyes of Tamika Pennamon filled with tears yesterday as the knowledge that her best friend had been killed slowly began to sink in. "I'm in denial, but I know that I have to accept it and just think of all the good times that we had," Pennamon said. "I'm very disturbed. I just can't believe that I saw her just yesterday."
09-24-97
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