De’Nena Dempsey sat surrounded by pictures, flowers and cards at her home. She clutched the red T-shirt her son Ni’Kosi Williams wore to the Florida Strawberry Festival, when he was just 3 years old. She has kept everything over the years.
She’s thankful she did.
Williams was shot to death, along with Danyala Smith and Miranda Mims, over Memorial Day weekend. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Williams was visiting the two women at their Lakeland home, when Smith’s brother, David, killed them.
David Smith had a history of mental illness. He fled to Tennessee, where he died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after calling authorities on himself.
When Williams didn’t return home that night, Dempsey knew he had been killed. The 25-year-old always called to say he was staying over. His family reported him missing May 25.
Trying to come to grips with where her son was, or what had happened to him, she prayed to God in her back yard. She needed a sign that he was gone and at peace. Within 15 minutes, a friend called and said that they had spotted Williams’ truck parked outside of his friends’ home. It didn’t take long for investigators to put the pieces together after that.
Now, Williams’ little red pickup is parked outside of his family’s home. For five years, that truck also parked at the Plant City Sonic off James L. Redman Parkway. Williams was a manager at the drive-thru chain. He made a lasting impact on his customers, employees and the community.
SUPER-SONIC CONNECTION
It was a tear-filled evening as Williams’ friends and family gathered May 30, at Sonic’s outside patio for a vigil.
“When you see grown men in public of all races crying, it does something to you,” Dempsey said. “I have to know that my son is special.”
Since his death, stories of Williams’ kindness have surfaced. Dempsey can’t go a day without phone calls and knocks on the door.
Williams took one woman to get her first car, because she had no family in the area to help her.
Another lost her 5-year-old child. Williams was there by her side to comfort her.
“I don’t think I know anyone that didn’t like him,” co-worker Nicole Earnest said. “You couldn’t be in a bad mood around him.”
Earnest knew Williams for about seven years. He helped her get her job back at Sonic.
And it wasn’t just his friends and co-workers for whom he cared. Repeat customers lit up at the sight of his face. He knew their names and their orders. Even difficult ones — a BLT, not toasted, light mayo, with a vanilla milkshake minus the whipped cream.
“The thing that amazed me most about Ni’Kosi was his ability to connect with people,” manager Tom Neu said. “Hundreds and hundreds of customers knew him. This whole situation has been devastating. We want to let people know that we lost one of our own.”
Because of Williams’ ability to connect, those who loved him have rallied around his family. Upwards of 500 people from throughout the country are expected to be at his funeral.
“Even though evil took my baby, there is still some good left,” Dempsey said.
RAISING AN ANGEL
Williams was a father to everyone. And although he took care of his friends, the pride and joy of Williams’ life was his family.
Whenever he got off work, he’d call his mother to see if she needed dinner or anything from the store. The family only had one car.
He’d drive his brother, Deonte Dempsey, and sister, Deja Dempsey, to school and buy Deonte cell phones after he kept losing them.
Pebbles, the family’s Pomeranian, was trained to give him kisses.
“He’s always been a good boy,” Dempsey said. “But he had a dimension we didn’t even know about. He was just here on an assignment from God. People walk through the door, and I don’t even know who they are, with story after story of how my son impacted their life.”
His life was impacted by the people he loved, as well. Neu gave Williams a shot at management, even signing him up for Sonic University. He graduated at the top of the two-day seminar class. Up until last week, his certificate hung up at the Sonic office, until Neu brought it to his parents. They didn’t even know about the accomplishment.
“That’s the kind of person he was,” Dempsey said. “He didn’t do things and then brag about it.”
His stepfather, Leroy Dempsey IV, also shaped Williams. The pastor was the only father he ever knew. The night he left for his friends’ house, Leroy and Williams had an hourlong conversation about trusting God when in transitional life stages. Williams had just left Sonic for a job at Publix.
“He wasn’t taken in vain,” Dempsey said. “I knew what frame of mind he was in when he left. He’s made the journey we all must make.”
Now, Dempsey wants to follow a new life’s journey before she makes her final one. After seeing how many people Williams had cared about, she wants to do the same.
“It’s hard shoes to fill,” Dempsey said. “We’re going to do our best. I’m honored to be his mother. We raised an angel, and we didn’t even know it.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.
HOW TO HELP
The family is accepting donations for Ni’Kosi Williams, who did not have any life insurance.
To donate call the Plant City Sonic at (813) 754-0300.
