Will the Circle Be Broken? Remembering Khisa Hhalille Williams

By Dawn Michelle LaGuerre

A cousin remembers the little girl she once babysat as a family confronts a devastating loss and a community confronts the continuing toll of domestic violence.

WILSON, N.C. – Will the circle be broken? For my family, that question is no longer simply a phrase. It is painfully personal. My cousin, Khisa Hhalille Williams, 54, died after being shot during what Wilson police described as a domestic incident on Saturday, August 15, 2026. I am now in my upper 60s, but I can still remember being a teenager and watching over Khisa, babysitting her when she was a little girl. It is almost impossible to reconcile those memories with the news that she is gone.

Today, I am asking readers of the Utica Phoenix to pray for my family during this moment of grief.

I am also asking something more difficult of all of us.

We have to talk about domestic violence.

What Police Say Happened to Khisa Hhalille Williams

According to Wilson police and multiple North Carolina news organizations, officers were dispatched to 4945 Raleigh Road Parkway in Wilson at approximately 8:52 a.m. on August 15 for a reported domestic incident in progress.

While officers were on their way, dispatchers advised them that a woman had been shot.

When officers arrived, they found Khisa suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported toward UNC Health for treatment but died before reaching the hospital, according to police reports cited by ABC11, WRAL and WITN.

WRAL reported that the shooting occurred at a Shell gas station near Interstate 95.

As of the reporting reviewed for this article, police had not publicly explained what led to the shooting, identified a suspect or announced an arrest. The investigation was described as ongoing.

That point matters.

In an age when speculation can travel across Facebook faster than verified information, Khisa and our family deserve accuracy. There will be questions, anger and grief, but we should not identify or accuse anyone unless law enforcement establishes those facts.

What we know is already heartbreaking enough.

A woman was alive Saturday morning.

Before the morning was over, she was gone.

I Remember the Little Girl Before the Headline

News reports necessarily reduce a tragedy to facts: a name, an age, an address, a time and a police investigation.

Families remember something different.

We remember birthdays.

We remember childhood.

We remember laughter, arguments, family gatherings and ordinary days that did not seem important until there could be no more of them.

I remember Khisa as my younger cousin.

When I was a teenager, I watched her and babysat her. At that age, you do not imagine that decades later you will be sitting at a keyboard trying to find words to explain that the child you once watched over has died.

I am in my upper 60s now.

That is a lifetime between the little girl I remember and the 54-year-old woman whose name appeared in a police report.

And yet grief can collapse those decades in an instant.

When I heard Khisa’s name, part of me did not see a news story.

I saw my cousin.

I saw family.

I saw the circle.

And I saw another place in that circle suddenly empty.

Khisa will be missed.

Will the Circle Be Broken?

The words “Will the Circle Be Broken?” have taken on a deeper meaning for me.

A family is a circle built across generations. Grandparents, parents, children, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends become connected through history, memory and love.

Death changes that circle.

Violence can tear through it.

And domestic violence does not affect only the people directly involved in an incident. Its consequences move outward through children, parents, cousins, friends, coworkers and entire communities.

That is why we should reject the idea that domestic violence is merely a private matter.

It is a public health issue.

It is a public safety issue.

And for families like mine, it is painfully personal.

Domestic Violence Is About Power and Control

The National Domestic Violence Hotline defines relationship abuse as a pattern of behavior in which one partner attempts to maintain power and control over another person in an intimate relationship.

That behavior can include physical violence, threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, manipulation and financial control.

That definition is important because domestic violence does not always begin with physical violence.

Warning signs may appear long before someone is seriously hurt.

They can include:

• Extreme jealousy or possessiveness
• Attempts to isolate someone from family or friends
• Monitoring phones, messages or movements
• Controlling money
• Threats and intimidation
• Repeated humiliation
• Physical aggression
• Threatening or using weapons

Recognizing warning signs does not mean blaming someone who is being abused for failing to leave.

Leaving an abusive relationship can itself be dangerous. Survivors may face financial dependence, threats against children or family members, isolation, fear and other barriers.

The responsibility for abuse belongs to the person choosing abusive behavior.

North Carolina Is Trying to Prevent More Domestic Violence Deaths

Khisa’s death comes as North Carolina officials are giving greater attention to domestic violence fatalities.

In May 2026, the North Carolina Department of Justice announced a new statewide effort bringing together domestic violence fatality review teams. The purpose is to examine domestic violence deaths, identify patterns and determine where earlier interventions might prevent future deaths.

The department reported that 13 people had died in domestic violence-related homicides and suicides in North Carolina during the first three months of 2026.

Attorney General Jeff Jackson said the goal is to use what communities learn from these deaths to strengthen prevention.

“These teams play a key role in preventing future domestic violence incidents,” Jackson said when announcing the initiative.

North Carolina has also expanded the use of a Lethality Assessment Program, which helps trained officers identify people who may face an elevated risk of being killed by an abusive partner and connect them with services.

These initiatives acknowledge something families living through tragedy already understand.

Sometimes there were warning signs.

Sometimes opportunities for intervention existed.

The challenge is recognizing those moments before a funeral becomes necessary.

Firearms Can Make Domestic Violence More Deadly

The circumstances surrounding Khisa’s shooting remain under investigation, and police have not publicly established all of the details.

Still, the fact that she suffered a gunshot wound places her death within a broader national concern about firearms and domestic violence.

Research cited by the National Domestic Violence Hotline has found that the presence of a firearm in a domestic violence situation can increase a woman’s risk of homicide fivefold.

The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence recorded 94 domestic violence-related homicides and 22 related suicides during 2024. Its case-by-case reporting shows firearms appearing repeatedly among the weapons used.

Those numbers represent people.

Every number had a name.

Every name had a family.

We Cannot Wait Until Someone Becomes a Headline

There is often a predictable ritual after a violent death.

Police investigate.

News organizations publish the story.

Friends post condolences.

Families make funeral arrangements.

Then public attention moves somewhere else.

The family cannot move on so easily.

That is why prevention must begin before someone becomes a headline.

We must teach young people what healthy relationships look like

Young people should understand early that:

• Jealousy is not proof of love.
• Control is not affection.
• Threats are not communication.
• Intimidation is not strength.
• Nobody is entitled to control another person’s body, friendships, money or choices.
• Walking away from an argument can be an act of strength.
• Asking for help should never be a source of shame.

Those conversations belong in families, schools, churches, youth programs and community organizations.

Boys and young men must be part of them too.

Preventing violence against women cannot be treated solely as the responsibility of women.

Men have an essential role in modeling healthy relationships and challenging other men when they see controlling, threatening or abusive behavior.

Social Media Should Not Become a Courtroom

Since Khisa’s death, information about the shooting has circulated on Facebook and other online platforms.

Some posts simply share published news reports. Others contain comments and personal reactions.

Readers should be cautious.

Police have not publicly released enough information to support many of the assumptions that can emerge after a tragedy.

Sharing unverified accusations can cause additional pain to grieving relatives and may interfere with the public’s understanding of an ongoing criminal investigation.

We should demand accountability when the evidence establishes what happened.

We should also demand accuracy.

Both can exist at the same time.

Remember Her as More Than a Crime Story

My cousin deserves more than to become another name attached to the words “domestic incident.”

She lived 54 years before Saturday morning.

She was somebody’s family.

She was my family.

I watched her when she was a child.

I had no idea then where our lives would take us or how many decades would pass. I certainly never imagined I would one day write about her death.

That is perhaps the cruelest thing about grief.

It forces us to measure the distance between what was and what will never be again.

There will be no new memories with Khisa.

So those of us who loved her must hold more tightly to the memories we already have.

Pray for Our Family, Then Help Protect Another One

I ask our readers to pray for my family.

Pray for Khisa’s family.

Pray for everyone trying to process a death that should not have happened.

But after the prayers, I hope we will act.

If you recognize signs of abuse in your own relationship or someone else’s, take them seriously. Reach out to qualified domestic violence professionals and trusted people who can help develop a safe plan. If someone’s life is in immediate danger, seek emergency assistance.

If you are raising children, talk to them about respect.

If you mentor young men, teach them that strength does not require domination.

If a friend jokes about controlling a partner, challenge it.

If someone tells you they are afraid, listen.

Do not begin by asking, “Why don’t you just leave?”

Begin by asking, “How can I help you be safe?”

Will the Circle Be Broken? Yes, But Love Remains

Will the circle be broken?

For our family, it has been.

There is now a space where Khisa should be.

I cannot change what happened on August 15.

I cannot return to those teenage years and hold on to the little girl I once babysat.

But I can say her name.

Khisa Hhalille Williams.

I can remember her.

I can ask that the investigation into her death be thorough and just.

I can pray for our family.

And I can use this terrible moment to ask another family to recognize the warning signs before its own circle is broken.

Khisa will be missed.

May she be remembered not simply for the way her life ended, but for the life she lived and the people who loved her.

And may every family facing domestic violence find safety before another chair at another family table becomes permanently empty.