Virginia William's Older Sisters Were Told Where To Find Her.They Didn't Realize That It Would Be In A Grave.

Virginia Williams

"She was loved and she will not be forgotten."

She had a sweet and defiant spirit. Virginia played football with the boys. She was a hero to her sisters and others. She was caring and would take care of and protect those in need. Some people called her their "shield." She had a distinct beauty mark on her face. Virginia was the sister that had boyfriends and could also beat boys in a footrace.

Virginia was born in New York City on New Year’s Day of 1951.  Her parents were Wyatt and Virginia Williams. She spent her youngest days in the Bronx before the family moved to Booker Washington Heights, a historically black neighborhood roughly bordered to the north by West Beltline Boulevard and what’s now Farrow Road to the west. She had eight sisters and one brother. She attended the old Sarah Nance Elementary School on Grant Street. Virginia was smart and popular among her classmates and neighborhood boys because she was tall and skinny. 

On Thursday, April 26, 1964, Virginia was 13-years-old and she had worked cleaning people's homes. She was determined to get money that was owed to her by a neighborhood family whose house she’d worked in. On that Thursday morning, Virginia left her home at 3436 West Beltline Blvd. around 8:15 a.m.  Her sister Lucille remembered seeing her sister go down the street and wave back. 

“She never came back,” said her other sister Margaret.

A neighbor named E. D. Johnson, saw Virginia walking near the railroad tracks that day. He later heard her scream but didn’t see her and thought nothing of it...

Three days later, when Johnson learned of Virginia's disappearance, he told Margaret and Lucille Williams, ages 14 and 15, he knew where to find their sister. Margaret and Lucille Williams followed Johnson along the railroad tracks at the edge of Columbia’s Booker Washington Heights neighborhood, on the 3500 block of Piedmont Avenue. 

Thinking Virginia would be thirsty after three days, Margaret carried a jar of ice water as Johnson led them to the woods that lined the railroad tracks. But when they found Virginia, Margaret threw the jar into the woods and ran back down the tracks. Virginia’s body was in a shallow grave. She had been strangled and stabbed in the chest. The autopsy revealed that she was raped.  There were no suspects in the case and no arrests were made.

Margaret and Lucille said they were prohibited from talking about Virginia’s death. It seemed like no one cared for Virginia.

A close friend of Virginia’s, went to school and watched as her teacher cleaned out Virginia’s desk. The teacher gathered up all the papers, pencils and other school supplies and threw them in the trash.

That silence was imposed on the community, particularly young women and mothers. When parents talked about the death, they spoke in whispers.

People or other kids labeling Lucille and Margaret as the sisters of the girl whose body was found in the woods.

After Virginia’s murder, the sisters missed school for months, feared walking in the neighborhood, and lost friends. They moved out of Booker Washington Heights and never moved back.

Margaret saw their mother deal with Virginia’s passing quietly and with little support. Their father had died a few years before the murder, and community and church leaders suggested that she give her children away.

E.D. Johnson, had told investigators that he led the girls to the area where he'd last saw Virginia. However, Lucille and Margaret said Johnson took them to the exact location of Virginia’s body, even brushing away the debris that covered her.

After the family moved from Booker Washington Heights, Lucille remembered her mother answering the door of their apartment at Saxon Homes, a former Harden Street public housing complex near where Allen Benedict Court stands. Johnson was at the door. As Lucille stood by her mother’s side, he said, “‘I killed your daughter. I’m sorry,’” Lucille remembered.

Her mother started crying. The next day, Lucille watched as Johnson’s body was brought out of a nearby highrise housing complex.

Investigators didn't believe that Johnson killed Virginia. Lucille didn't either. She said he was too old and weak, that Virginia would have gotten away or hurt him. Lucille believes Johnson was covering for someone else.

Margaret and Lucille also thought that maybe a neighborhood boy who gave Virginia a ring could have attacked her. The ring was missing when they found her.

Virginia's niece, Sabrina, began investigating her murder in 2008. She reviewed the original Richland County Sheriff’s Department case file from 1964. She was appalled by the authorities lack of due diligence.

“I think it’s pretty clear they didn’t do an investigation,” Sabrina said. “There’s nothing in that file.”

The only crime scene photo was very poor quality and Virginia's face wasn't even visible. 

In 2018, police thought they had a break while investigating a similar case that happened a decade later nearby. They identified a potential suspect who frequented the area. However, when interviewed,  he wasn't providing details an offender should have been able to provide. He was getting the time frame wrong, some of the details of the crime. So it was thought that it was a false confession. The man was not charged and his identity was not released.

Investigators are looking at similar crimes and suspects in the area during that time frame for any possible connections to Virginia’s case. They’re also looking into possibly exhuming the body as forensic developments and technology of today could propel the case forward.

Virginia's niece, Sabrina, is still helping get justice for Virginia.

A vigil was held for Virginia last year. Bobby Donaldson, a historian of black communities and civil rights, spoke, “We, our people, must keep the past alive until justice is done,” Donaldson said quoting Frederick Douglass.

He told the crowd they had to keep Virginia’s spirit alive until justice is done.