Dozens gather to honor the lives of two Lexington children killed

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - It was a somber Monday night for part of the Lexington community.

Dozens of people gathered to honor two children, Skyler and Deon Williams, killed a week ago at the Parkway Manor Apartments on Rogers Road.

Pastors from a local church, teachers, and dozens of community members came out to release balloons for the two children and celebrate their lives. They prayed, asking for peace and singing songs searching for solidarity and spiritual support.

Cerise Bouchard taught Skyler at Mary Todd Elementary and said losing Skyler was like losing her own child.

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“Like most students she was great most of the time, and hard a lot of times too,” Bouchard said.

But she took solace in the way people have united amid troubling times.

“It’s good for me to know that there was and is a caring community around Skyler and Deon and their family,” Bouchard said.

Terry Lewis helped organize the vigil, and emphasized the importance of offering these spaces for people to grieve, to heal, and to say goodbye to two wonderful children.

“Everyone needs an opportunity to come together to love to cry. We can have these emotions and not feel judgmental,” Lewis said.

Lewis says Faithpointe Church, which is just around the corner from the Parkway Manor Apartments, plans to hold monthly events and keep tying the knot of this community tighter.

After the deaths of Deon and Skyler, mental health counselors have stepped up to help communities process and grieve the loss.

“The grief process, which typically starts with shock and disbelief. So it could take a long process and it takes as long as it takes to heal from tragedies such as this,” licensed clinical social worker Tomerial Brooks said.

You can find more resources on how to explain tragedies like this to your children by clicking here.

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