Teen son charged in mom's stabbing

SUGAR LAND -- A teenager was arrested Friday in the slaying of his mother, stabbed with two kitchen knives earlier in the day while cleaning a home owned by Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, police said.

Tristan Williams, 17, was arrested as he walked down the street near the house in the upscale Sweetwater subdivision.

Williams was being held in the Fort Bend County Jail, said Sugar Land police Capt. Mike Lund. His charge of aggravated assault was expected to be upgraded to murder.

Police said Wllliams' mother, Alice, 37, was attacked in the kitchen during an argument about 12:45 p.m., moments after she and her son entered the house.

Yardbourgh, 32, lives in the house with her 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship with O'Neal, the player's agent, Michael Parris, told the Associated Press. The girl was not home during the stabbing.

We were honored to have Alice come to our home once a week to clean, as she also did for many of our friends. She was a part of our lives for nine years. She was smart, hard working, dependable, and absolutely trustworthy. When we were out of town, she would look after our home, and take care of our pets and plants. Often, but not always, Alice's Mom, her daughter Tracy, or her son, Tristan, would accompany her as she worked.

She was here, alone, this past Thursday morning.

As we had done for several weeks, we talked with her about her plans to adopt two boys. She had discovered there were several thousand children in Houston who needed homes. Her daughter, Tracy had finished school and was on her own. Tristan was scheduled to graduate from high school this coming Friday, so Alice felt she would have the room to care for additional children. She wanted two boys about 7 or 8 years old, as they were the ones most difficult to place by adoption agencies. One could not help but be overwhelmed by the enorimity of her plans, and there is no doubt she would have made them happen.

Alice and her family had gone through all of the extensive interviews, classes, and inspections to become qualified to adopt. Tristan's school even wrote letters in support of the adoption, according to Alice. The agency was supposed to begin looking for candidates next week. Alice was very excited about that, and when she left our home Thursday, was in a very happy mood. She had a really big heart; we will miss that most of all.

Alice loved her children very much, and was very proud of them. She just glowed when she talked about Tristan's graduation. It was to be held in the GRBrown Convention Center. Alice had rented a room in a nearby hotel for all of her family and friends who would attend.

Alice worked for a couple of famous people. Calvin Murphy was perhaps the first. When his name hit the news recently, Alice told us she had been helping him for over ten years. She knew the children who were accusing Mr. Murphy of things, and did not think the charges had any merit. She anticipated being called to testify, if the case went to trial, and was willing to do so.

Apparently, Mr. Murphy had introduced her to some of the other people she helped. One of those was Charles Barkley. When our son was younger, she even took a basketball to Mr. Barkley and asked him to autograph it for our son. Mr. Barkley was kind enough to do so. Not just from that act, but in several anecdotes, Alice showed us that Mr. Barkley had a much more compassionate heart than he allowed the media to see. Since his retirement, some of that has begun to become visible.

The above article reported that Alice worked for Arnetta Yardbourgh, who was Sacquille O'Neil's girlfriend. We did not know her name, but did know she was another person Alice helped. She was very close to them and very protective of their privacy.

It would have been good if even more people could have known Alice. Her compassion and strength of character made it impossible for anyone who knew her to harbor any bigotry or negative stereotypes. Her life proved those to be false.

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