Mississippi State University freshman kinesiology major Kristian Williams was fatally shot around 3:30 a.m. March 15 on Fredricka Avenue in Jackson, Miss.
Sylvestor Taylor, Williams’s long-time neighbor in Jackson, said he watched Williams grow up and remembers her amazing smile.
“That smile she had. She wasn’t a bad girl. She always respected all the older people around here,” Taylor said. “She would never pass by this house without speaking.”
Critz Residence Hall on MSU’s campus, where Williams resided, hosted a candle light vigil on March 23 in Williams’s honor in which resident advisers and close friends spoke.
Close friends said Williams’s personality and spirit were nothing less than bubbly, a trait that made her easy to get along with.
Having known Williams since they both attended Peeples Middle School in Jackson, Miss., Raven Grant, freshman whose major is undeclared, said Williams was the best friend she could ever ask for.
“I remember we would be up late doing homework, and Kristian would just sing, like she could really sing good,” Grant said with a smile. “She was really energetic and silly, too, and she was very family-oriented. She really loved her mother, father and relatives.”
According to Grant, Williams was not involved in anything particular at MSU, but she graduated with honors from Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Miss., in 2013 and was very passionate about completing her schoolwork.
“She was not going out with us or anywhere if she had work to finish,” Grant said. “She did not play about her schoolwork.”
Grant said Williams loved the colors pink and blue and enjoyed listening to hip-hop but loved listening to gospel music.
“I know she used to love ‘A Sinner’s Prayer’ by Deitrick Haddon,” Grant said. “She also loved the song ‘Blessing’ by K. Kamp.”
According to Grant, Williams thoroughly enjoyed reading Bible verses.
“Philippians 4:13 says, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,’ and she absolutely loved this scripture,” Grant said. “She also loved the scripture Romans 8:18 that says, ‘For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.’”
Mariah Kelly, senior kinesiology major, friend and former RA, said Williams possessed a vivacious spirit and was hardly the type of person to get upset.
“Anytime you saw her, she had a big smile on her face,” Kelly said. “She was a very respectful young lady and had aspirations to be the first from her family to go to a university and ‘make it.’”
Kelly said Williams easily became a socialite on campus and made friends easily.
“At the beginning of the year, I volunteered to take my residents around the campus, and she was one of the first girls to come and tour with me to find all of the resource centers and classes so that she’d be on track of where to go for the first day of class,” Kelly said. 
Grant said Williams was very passionate about love, something she was ready to give and always searching for.
“She was always ready to help someone who needed it,” Grant said. “She made sure she had different scriptures for different situations people went through. She was a very positive person.”