Murdered student received DHS degree posthumously

Gunned down after senior party

Kendall Williams Jr. received his degree posthumously.

The Destrehan High School senior was just days away from graduating from Destrehan High School when he was shot and killed in a small park at East Harding and Eighth streets in New Sarpy on May 4. But he received he still received his degree on May 12.

The last minutes of Williams’ life reportedly ended with him exchanging words with a New Sarpy man who witnesses say simply pulled out a gun and shot him pointblank in the head. St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives found the 17-year-old dead at the scene at around 8:30 p.m.

Sheriff Greg Champagne said witnesses who saw the shooting identified Javon D. Wells, 22, of 740 East Hoover St. in New Sarpy as the alleged shooter.

At DHS, Principal Stephen Weber said Williams will graduate and receive his diploma among the school’s 355 students in the 2016 graduating class.

“The students are hanging in there,” Weber said. “It’s hard to describe the loss of a student. Our Destrehan family has stepped up as usual to help each other.”

A chair will be set aside for Williams at the DHS graduation ceremony with his photograph and a garnet rose resting on the seat, Weber said. He called the recognition “a celebration of his graduation.”

DHS teacher Craig Perrier, who taught Williams three years in his industrial arts class, described the New Sarpy student as a “quiet, polite, great student that was loved.”

Perrier said he always did what he was told and never was in any trouble.

“I am just mourning him as is the rest of the entire Destrehan family,” Perrier said.

Williams wanted to be a mechanic or plant operator, Perrier said, and he “loved cars.”

Treyanna Taplet of Destrehan, who said she’s known Williams since elementary school, called him her best friend.

“We were close,” Taplet said.

They had just left their senior party when the call came about Williams’ death. After that, Taplet said she doesn’t know the circumstances that led to her friend’s death. All she knows about that time was she wasn’t home long when the call came about Williams being shot and she rushed to the park to see him, but wasn’t allowed to enter the area.

“He was so quiet,” she said. “You really had to get to know him before he would talk to you. He wouldn’t just talk to you. He liked cars and going to Alabaster to watch the cars. He loved driving them. His favorite car was a Mustang.”Taplet said William’s mother was going to get him a 2016 Mustang – the one he wanted.

Graduation will be “sad” without him, she added.“I’m just so empty,” Taplet said. “I just want him to call me and say, “Let’s go to the mall’ or ‘Come outside on the street.’”

Williams was a worker, too, she said.

School System spokeswoman Stevie Crovetto said they were deeply saddened by the student’s death and support was being provided to students and staff in accordance with the district’s crisis management and emergency response plan. In addition to school counselors being on site daily, additional support staff members are at the school to assist students and staff.

Just hours after the slaying, Wells was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder. As of press time, he was being held on $1 million bond in the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center.

Champagne said they were not speculating on the motive yet, but the shooting remained under investigation.

“Establishing a motive is not necessary to make a second-degree murder arrest,” he said.

At the park, a makeshift memorial rests with balloons that say “2016 grad,” stuffed animals and even a small angel statue. A poster attached to the pavilion bears student names with comments “Rest easy, Ken,” “Love you, Ken,” and “Rest in heaven.”