GRAND RAPIDS, MI – La’Kyijah Tina-Marie Williams was a talented basketball star at 15 years old and carried a joyful spirit, her mother said.

The teen loved being both a big sister and a little sister and brought lightness to everyone she met.

La’Kyijah was riding scooters with friends in downtown Grand Rapids one summer night when she was fatally struck by gunfire.

The shooter, Josiah Tyree Pittman, was sentenced to prison Wednesday, Oct. 8, for second-degree murder. He will serve 25-50 years.

La’Kyijah’s death has taken a toll on her entire family, Shaqueta Mathison, La’Kyijah’s mother, said in court.

Mathison told Judge Scott Noto she struggles with fear, anxiety and stress because of her daughter’s killing.

What were once simple everyday activities – like working, sleeping throug

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