The daughters of former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams have denounced St. John’s for its decision to induct their father into the school’s athletics hall of fame because of accusations of neglect in their lives following his role in the 2002 fatal shooting of a limousine driver.
Tryumph and Whizdom Williams wrote open letters that they planned to send to St. John’s saying the school should be ashamed for his induction into the class during Saturday’s homecoming weekend.
Williams, 54, served more than a year in prison for the accidental shotgun death of chauffeur Costas Christofi.
The sisters each accused Williams of neglect and emotional and verbal abuse and said the power forward, who once signed a six-year, $86 million deal with the New Jersey Nets, failed to provide adequate financial support.
Tryumph Jaye Williams, a 19-year-old studying theater at DePaul, detailed accusations that her sister was locked in a trash chute by Williams. Tryumph also lashed out at St. John’s as “possibly, fools, misusing money to honor Jayson Williams.”
“Why are you being honored and inducted into the hall of fame when I’ve always had to earn my survival, let alone my success, in spite of you? St. John’s University — you should be ashamed of yourself,” she wrote.
Whizdom J Williams, an 18-year-old student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, accused her father of being an alcoholic and “a deadbeat father who lacks any sense of remorse.”
Williams declined comment to the AP. St. John’s planned to go ahead and include Williams in the weekend ceremony.
“Jayson Williams’s life journey is one that includes childhood trauma, time spent in a homeless shelter, addiction, incarceration, and recovery; issues that impact countless American families. The family dynamic between Jayson and his children is not a matter that St. John’s University will discuss,” St. John’s spokesperson Brian Browne wrote in an email statement to the AP.
“Part of the recovery and redemption process is restoring trust,…
Source : espn
