Keniyah Brenae Williams, 19, a Black/African American woman, was shot late on May 27, 2025, in Jasper, Texas, and died shortly after arriving at Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital. Police and local reporting say the gunshot wound was to her head and that she was brought to the hospital by her boyfriend, Kristopher Tayshaun Drayton, after the shooting inside a vehicle near downtown Jasper, close to West Gibson and Main streets. A firearm believed to have been used was recovered by investigators.
Family and obituary notices identified her as a young mother from Woodville with ties to Livingston, remembering her as a daughter whose life and plans were cut short.
According to police, Drayton initially told investigators the shooting was accidental, claiming the gun discharged as he tried to place it between the car’s seats. In the immediate aftermath, he was taken into custody and, within days, was arraigned on a manslaughter charge in Jasper County, with a judge setting bond at $500,000. Coverage at the time detailed that Williams had been visiting Drayton and that her two young children were in the car when the gun went off. Her mother publicly mourned her, while police emphasized the case remained under active investigation.
As the investigation progressed, a Jasper County grand jury later indicted Drayton on a murder charge tied to Williams’s death, replacing the earlier manslaughter allegation. In court proceedings reported in late September and early October 2025, Drayton—then 24—entered a not-guilty plea to the murder count, and the case moved forward in district court while he remained under a bond exceeding $500,000. Authorities have not announced any additional suspects, and no other arrests have been reported in the case.
