williams sisters, Venus and Serena Williams are in mourning today after their eldest sister was murdered.Yetunde Price, 31, a personal assistant to her superstar sisters, was shot dead after a confrontation with youths in the crime-ridden Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where the Williams family grew up.
A 24-year-old man has been arrested by police and jailed without bail.
Yetunde Price was with her boyfriend in a white four-wheel drive vehicle when the argument broke out in the early hours of yesterday. A neighbour said he heard about a dozen gunshots.
Miss Price was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead a short time later from wounds to the upper body. Her boyfriend was uninjured.
Police later surrounded a bungalow where three suspects, armed with an AK47 assault rifle, were thought to have barricaded themselves in.
More than 40 officers circled the property and heavily-armed SWAT teams and hostage negotiators were called in. They stormed the house just after midday - some 12 hours after the shooting - but it was empty. The suspects are now believed to have fled immediately after the shooting.
Miss Price, a divorced mother-of-three who retained her married name, was seen by British TV audiences at Wimbledon this year when she joined the family entourage to see Venus and Serena reach the Ladies' final.
During the tournament she shared a house in the south London suburb with sisters Isha, a 29-year-old lawyer, Lyndrea, a 25-year-old actress and singer, and their mother Oracene.
Venus and Serena's agent, Carlos Fleming, said the family was heading for Los Angeles. Serena has been in Toronto to film an appearance in a cable TV drama series.
Family lawyer Keven Davis said: "They are all devastated. It's a fluid situation and a lot of reports out there may be inaccurate. We are asking people to respect the family's privacy and are trying to get as much information as we can.
"I just talked to Yetunde Friday. She was great. She was upbeat, in a great mood."
Serena's publicist Raymone Baine said: "This is extremely devastating news. They are a very close-knit family."
Venus and Serena's rise to stardom from humble beginnings is one of sport's most remarkable stories.
Under the watchful eye of their father Richard they have come to dominate women's tennis and today they are said to be worth £200million.
While she often accompanied her sisters around the world, styling their hair for celebrity appearances, Miss Price led a far more modest existence.
She lived in a £50,000 bungalow in Corona, a suburb close to Compton, and owned her own hair salon, proudly displaying pictures of Venus and Serena on the walls.
Despite her lack of wealth, she insisted on paying her own air fare whenever she flew to see Venus and Serena.
All five sisters and their mother are Jehovah's witnesses and Miss Price always said she had a better life than her famous siblings and that she felt no envy.
As well as a motive for the shooting, investigators were trying to determine why Miss Price and her companion were in the area. "Right now there are more questions than answers," said a police spokesman.
Los Angeles sheriff Scott Butler said police on patrol near the shooting had raced to the scene after hearing several shots. "Yetunde and a male companion, who we believe was her boyfriend, had been in a white SUV when they became involved in a confrontation with some local residents.
"The confrontation led to gunfire. She was shot in the upper torso and was found by deputies in the street. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital."
He confirmed that homicide investigators were investigating. "They are at the scene, talking to witnesses, trying to determine exactly what happened," he said.
Richard and Oracene Williams went through a messy and bitter divorce last year and Wimbledon was one of the few occasions since that the whole family has been seen together.American sisters, Serena Williams and Venus Williams, captured their third women’s doubles Olympics Gold Medal by downing Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic in twin sets 6-4, 6-4 in the final at the 2012 London Games on Sunday.
Serena and Venus did not even allow their opponents to settle down in the match, claiming breakthrough in the very first game and consolidating on it to attain a 2-0 lead. The Americans did not lose any of their own serves and maintained their advantage till the end, closing it 6-4.
The multiple-time Grand Slam champions, Serena and Venus, banged in a single ace and 58 percent of the first serves, winning 16 of the 21 points on them. The American sisters played aggressively, bombarding 17 winners and committing nine unforced errors. Serena and Venus availed one of the five break chances they created and put away both threats they came across in the opener.
Start of the second set was steadier than the first, as both teams held their serve in the opening four games to square off the score at 2-2. Serena and Venus hit a blow to the Czech duo in the fifth and capitalised on it to go up 4-2. Just like the opener, the American pair did not allow Hlavackova and Hradecka to stage a comeback and grabbed it 6-4.
In the second set, Serena and Venus served even better than the first, as they pounded five aces and 75 percent of the first deliveries, converting 19 of the 24 points. The American combination was almost flawless on their ground strokes, as they hit 18 winners and made just three unforced errors.
Venus said, talking to the reporters after the contest, "We've been winning this title since 2000, but it's easier said than done. We come in as the favorites, but it's not a given. We fought hard and our opponents played very well - they're very talented. But we're glad we were able to keep the gold medal here for us. It's an amazing feeling. For me it was also amazing to watch Serena complete the Golden Slam."
Serena is hopeful that she would play next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after four years. She said, "I'll definitely be in Rio if I'm healthy and I'm playing - I hope to still be playing at 100% by then. I have some titles to defend, too."
The American sisters clinched their previous doubles title at the 2000 Sydney and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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