Serena and Venus Williams' sister's killer, Robert Edwards Maxfield, has been released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence for her murder. According to reports, he was released three years early on account of good behaviour. Yetunde Price, who was the tennis duo's older half-sister, a mother-of-three and a registered nurse, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in September 2003. She was just 31.
Serena with her older sister Yetunde
Robert was a Southside Crips gang members, and fired about a dozen rounds from an assault rifle into Yetunde's car while she was travelling with her boyfriend at the time, who was thought to be the target of the attack and was unharmed. Yetunde also co-owned a beauty salon and served as a personal assistant for Venus and Serena over the years. Although Venus and Serena haven't publicly spoken about his release, Serena faced him in court back in 2006, reportedly saying that she wasn't "going to speak … because it’s too hard for me to talk", before telling Robert that "this was unfair to our family, and our family has always been positive and we always try to help people".
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The two sisters spoke about Yetunde's tragic death at an event which aims to raise awareness of issues including community violence. Serena said: "Well, violence has affected our lives personally - we lost our sister, she was the oldest - to violence. But I think what people don't realise is how violence really affects not only your family, but your friends, your neighbours… everyone." She began to tear up, adding: "And I'm going to stop there." Serena and Venus also founded the Yetunde Price Resource Centre, which aims to help families affected by community violence, to pay tribute to Yetunde.
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