Yazmeen Williams was an adventure seeker who “wanted to be a lawyer,” but never got to live out all of her dreams.
Family members and friends of Williams, who was found dead in a sleeping bag in Kips Bay last week, remembered her at a tearful vigil on Saturday night as a loving person with lofty ambitions left unfulfilled with her life taken from her.
Mourners laid flowers, lit candles, and propped up photos of the 31-year-old Williams outside 207 East 27th St., the same spot where she was found murdered on July 5. The heartache was still too much for many nearby Straus Houses residents still in disbelief that the young woman, so full of life in the snapshots posted at the vigil site, had been lost in such a horrific act.
Williams’ mother, Nicole Williams, told amNewYork Metro that her daughter was a free spirit who adored her family.
“She was adventurous, she liked to take trips. And she loved her family — living life,” Nicole Williams cried from behind dark glasses. “She was loved.”
Yazmeen Williams was allegedly murdered by 55-year-old Chad Irish; police said he lived with Williams inside of 224-226 East 28th St. in a relationship allegedly tied to drug use.
Authorities believe Irish shot the young woman in the head on July 5; the motive for the gruesome murder remains unknown and under investigation. Following the killing, police reported, Irish allegedly wrapped her body in a sleeping bag and dragged it out of the building behind his motorized wheelchair, in plain sight of neighbors.
“Chad Irish is removing that package, a sleeping bag, from the location in his wheelchair, quite a few residents were more than happy to hold the door open for him as he wheeled the body down the street,” Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a recent NYPD press briefing.
On July 8, Irish was taken into custody by police after he allegedly flashed a firearm at fellow Straus Houses residents when they recognized him for dumping the body. A mob of engaged locals rained down punches on the suspected killer, grabbing at him as he was loaded into the back of a waiting ambulance.
“She walked my dog,” Irish said after being charged with murder. “I really don’t know who you are talking about.”
At the July 13 vigil, Yazmeen Williams’ grandmother, who she affectionately called Mama, sat in a chair on the sidewalk, looked down at the growing memorial and considered all that her granddaughter still had to give.
“She was a Christian, she loved God. She was funny. She had lots of friends. She wanted to be a lawyer,” Essie Graham said. “She called me Mama and she said: ‘Mama, I love you more than anybody in this world.’”
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