Alleged killer of Venus and Serena's sister, Yetunde price, is arrested; arraignment delayed

Jet, Feb 9, 2004

The alleged killer of Yetunde Price, sister of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams, was arrested recently after a four-month search that led authorities from Southern California to Nevada and back again.

Robert Maxfield, 23, was held without bail for investigation of first-degree murder in connection with the Sept. 14, 2003, fatal shooting of 31-year-old Yetunde Price. The reputed member of the Southside Crips street gang appeared in court for his arraignment on Jan. 20, but it was postponed when prosecutors cited a conflict with his attorney. Authorities would not divulge the nature of the conflict.

Officials maintain Maxfield fired the shot that killed the divorced mother of three.

Last September, shortly after midnight, Price and her boyfriend, Rolland Wormley, 28, were driving through a Compton neighborhood--not far from the tennis courts where Venus and Serena honed their craft. The events leading up to the shooting are still indistinct.

One version of the story states Price, and Wormley who was driving her SUV, stopped at a suspected Crips drug house and got into an argument. The other version reports the two were merely passing through. In both accounts the car was fired upon and Price was shot in the head. She died at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Wormley was unharmed.

The day after the shooting, another alleged Crips member, Aaron Hammer, 24, was arrested (JET, Oct. 6, 2003). He pled innocent to the murder, telling authorities that he fired six shots from a .22-calibre gun. However, prosecutors said the bullet that killed Price came from an AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapon.

Witnesses identified Maxfield as the shooter and an exhaustive inter state search for him ensued. He eventually was captured without incident at his sister's house in Southern California.

The Price and Williams families issued a statement that thanked the Los Angeles Police Department and the community for their work. "It is our hope that all involved in this heinous crime will be brought to justice," they said.

Both Maxfield and Hammer are awaiting trials.