Serena Williams has revealed that the worst loss of her career occurred after she received this devastating news
The 23-time Grand Slam winner revealed to Time that before losing 6-1, 6-0 loss to Jo Konta she found out via Instagram that the man convicted of fatally shooting her sister in 2003 had been released on parole.
“I couldn’t shake it out of my mind,” Williams explained.
“No matter what, my sister is not coming back for good behaviour,” she said of the his release. “It’s unfair that she’ll never have an opportunity to hug me.”
Price had three children, who were 11, 9, and 5 at the time of the their mother’s death.
“It was hard because all I think about is her kids,” Williams, who has one daughter, said, “and what they meant to me. And how much I love them.”
The tennis champion revealed that she would like to practice forgiveness, especially for her daughter Olympia, but she hasn’t got to that place yet.
“I would like to practice what I preach, and teach Olympia that as well. I want to forgive. I have to get there. I’ll be there.”
Serena Williams reveals heartache at her sister’s killer walking free on parole saying she still has not forgiven the man who fatally shot the mother-of-three in a drive-by
Serena Williams is opening up about the heartache of learning the man convicted of murdering her oldest sister in 2003 is out on parole, admitting that she still hasn’t forgiven him.
As Daily Mail exclusively reported former Southside Crips gang member Robert Maxfield, 38, was released from Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California on March 8 after serving 12 years for the murder of 31-year-old Yetunde Price.
He was sentenced to 15 years, but was released early for good behavior.
‘No matter what, my sister is not coming back for good behavior,’ an emotional Serena told Time magazine.
‘It’s unfair that she’ll never have an opportunity to hug me.’
Price, the oldest sister of Serena and Venus Williams, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton, California in September 2003. Police said Price’s boyfriend, who she was in the car with, was the intended target.
Serena, 36, told the magazine that although the Bible talks about forgiveness she is not there yet.
‘I would like to practice what I preach, and teach Olympia that as well. I want to forgive,’ she said, ‘I have to get there. I’ll be there.’
The tennis champ also revealed that she learned of Maxfield’s release on the internet – just a few minutes before her match in San Jose and one day after the DailyMail broke the news.
Serena said she was sitting in the players’ area when she took out her phone, opened Instagram and read about the convicted killer’s parole.
‘I couldn’t shake it out of my mind,’ she told Time, adding that it was ‘hard’.
‘All I think about is her kids,’ she said, ‘and what they meant to me. And how much I love them.’
Authorities said Price, a registered nurse, was shot in the back of the head with an AK-47 and died instantly. Her family was left devastated by the sudden, violent death.
Her killer is now a free man after completing his 15-year sentence early due to good behavior.
A mugshot of Maxfield – taken before his release on March 8 this year and obtained exclusively by – shows what he currently looks like.
