Hundreds of people gathered Saturday morning to say goodbye to Lakita Williams, the young lady who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time last weekend when she was hit by gunfire outside the Upper Level night club. The woman’s friends and family are keeping each other strong.
“I kept her before she went to school, when she first started going to school. She was a really sweet person. I enjoyed her so much,” said Myrtle Bruce, Lakita’s godmother.
On Saturday, those whose lives were touched by Lakita Williams wiped back tears and said goodbye. The 21-year-old Jackson woman was shot and killed in the early morning hours June 26 outside the Upper Level club on West Northside Drive. Williams was an innocent bystander, apparently caught in the crossfire, the victim of a bullet police say came from a gun in the hands of Sentrell Kelly. He’s just 16 years old.
“Anybody walking across the street, you don’t know who doin it to ya. It’s hard, very hard,” said family friend Geneva Booker. The crime occurred at a club that’s already had very recent trouble with violence. The club owner reacted to WLBT’s cameras on the scene in mid-June, the day after a shooting that left two people injured.
“They need to close it down. Too many young people getting hurt in there,” added Bruce.
Some Jackson city council members want it closed, and Mayor-elect Frank Melton has vowed to do so. He takes office on the 4th of July. Meanwhile, this crowd of family and friends will pray for a serious effort toward ending the senseless brand of crime that took young Lakita away.
“I’m just sorry it happened to her,” expressed Bruce.
Police say Sentrell Kelly also shot and injured five other people that night. He’s charged with murder and five counts of aggravated assault.
WLBT
7/3/5
