The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, are two of the sport’s all-time greats. The two have dominated the WTA Tour for several years by consistently dominating their opponents. Despite the sisters’ breakthrough achievements in their respective fields, they had to deal with a sad personal blow in the early 2000s.

Yetunde Price, the half-sister of the Williams sisters, was shot and killed in Compton, California, in 2003. Sadly, she passed away at a young age (31). In one of their earlier interviews, Venus and Serena Williams disclosed heartbreaking facts about their late sister Yetunde during the 2021 King Richard premiere.

When Serena Williams and Venus opened up about their late sister, Yetunde

Oracene Price, the mother of the Williams sisters, was already the mother of 3 girls from a previous marriage. She was married to Yusef Rasheed until 1979, and Yetunde Price was one of their 3 daughters. Yetunde, born on August 9, 1972, was only eight years old when her mother, Oracene, wed Richard Williams. Growing up, she supported her tennis-playing sisters by working as a nurse and personal assistant.

On the occasion of the King Richard movie premier, Serena Williams and Venus recalled their late sister Yetunde and disclosed a few heart-aching facts. “Oh, I think I cried the whole time. Whenever she came on film, I just – personally, I just started, like – I mean, even still,” said the 23-time Grand Slam winner.

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On the other hand, Venus expressed her feelings for her late sister, saying, “And she loved to have fun too. She knew how to have fun. She was original Team V. Before there was a Team V, she was Team V.”

Series of events that took place before Yetunde Price’s death

Yetunde and her then-boyfriend were having a romantic evening in a parked car on September 14, 2003. The two people inside the car had no idea what would hit them a few minutes later. When the house’s resident street gang members saw the automobile parked outside, they assumed it belonged to an opposing gang and began firing at it.

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Right after this, Yetunde’s boyfriend hurried to a nearby relative’s house with the vehicle and called the authorities from there. But sadly, Yetunde’s head wound made it such she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.