Shortavious Williams
Age 15
Helena-West Helena, Arkansas
Red balloons lifted. Red casket lowered.
On a dreary winter day, children gathered in the parking lot of the Boys and Girls Club of Phillips County Armory Unit in a circle of remembrance. The red balloons they held bobbed in the air. They lifted them, as if in salute, then let go.
Donna Ewing, the mother of his friend and classmate at Central High School, called for community members to be an example to kids and “show them that it’s nothing in these streets.”
Shortavious Williams, 15, was shot dead in his bed on Jan. 20, 2019, in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. He was buried in a bright red casket.
