Sins & Survivors: A Las Vegas True Crime Podcast - 25 Forever - Remembering Secoya Williams

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Secoya Williams was an amazing young woman who made friends wherever she went, but when she went to see her friend perform at a local nightclub, the unimaginable happened.Today we're sharing the story and celebrating the life of Secoyahttps://sinspod.co/82https://sinspod.co/82blogDomestic Violence Resourceshttp://sinspod.co/resourcesClick here to become a member of our Patreon!https://sinspod.co/patreonVisit and join our Patreon now and access our ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content & schwag! Get ad-free access for only $1 a month or ad-free and bonus episodes for $3 a monthApple Podcast Subscriptionshttps://sinspod.co/appleWe're now offering premium membership benefits on Apple Podcast Subscriptions! On your mobile deviceLet us know what you think about the episodehttps://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2248640/open_sms Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sins-survivors-a-las-vegas-true-crime-podcast--6173686/support.

To listen ad-free, visit Zinspod.co slash subscribe. Starting at $2.99 a month, you'll also get access to our exclusive bonus content episodes when you join through Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Thanks for supporting the show. She was a lot in a good way. She had the spirit. She had a giving spirit. Her heart was gracious.

She let people move in with her. She took in friends, pets, story. I mean, that's who she was. She just was a giver. Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your host, Sean. And I'm your co-host, John. We've mentioned AdvocacyCon on the podcast a few times. When we attended in March of 2025, one of the biggest highlights for us was that we

had the pleasure of speaking with Marilyn Johnson about her daughter, Sequoia Williams, who was murdered in Indianapolis in February of 2022 when she was only 25 years old. Our conversation with Marilyn, along with Sequoia's grandmother and her brother, was recorded on-site at AdvocacyCon. We are so happy that we are able to use the majority of that recording to bring you Sequoia's story directly from her family. Most of what we talked about was who Sequoia was as a person and the details of the short and beautiful life that she lived. She was bright. She was a bright person.

She was a loving person. So I just want everybody to know her story because I want people to know. Your life should be taken because you are a caring person who have a heart of gold and you're supporting the fleas. It is like that. People need to learn how to deal with conflict in different ways. And so that brought me to this Kavichi. And then as we got over to her story, I was like, sure. So I told my son.

I was like, well, you know, he got a big sister. It was just him and his sister. And I got him so he could, you know, go as far as some childhood and things like that and what she meant to him and then i could take it from the actual incident because that's hard only topic i could talk about her all day but the incident is hard like he said it was basically just me and her i have four sisters but she was the one in the house. And I'm about four years older than her, so, you know, that was that. Were you guys close growing up? Yeah, we was very close.

Like even now, still in day, like I hear songs or it's like women's songs or women movies like Cheetah Girls or like I know all the Cheetah Girls movies and all the Beyonce songs due to her and my cousin. And just a whole bunch of stuff like that, that, you know, I hold on to because that's what it was. And we did a lot. We did a lot together. Coming up, though, we fought a lot, not like in hatred, but, you know, just being kids and me being a boy. I was a boy, and she was a rough girl, so we fought a lot.

But Mom was like, I need to stop fighting so much and love on each other. And so we developed that different type of relationship. And she would fight anybody for me if they said something wrong that she didn't like about me. You know, she was gung-ho about it. Being my number one fan, my number one support, just making sure I was living a great, a successful life, especially when I went to the military. She became a part of our family readiness group

that was only for spouses, and she wrote a letter to my commander, to the state and everything just to become a part of that that family readiness group just to support me and what i was doing um and so that was hard but yeah coming up um so we did a lot we had a life. Do you have a favorite memory of your childhood growing up together? Favorite memory? I mean, it would be more so as we got a little older, like just sitting around to college.

That would be one of my ultimate favorite memories. We did get a little, not a little, we got a lot closer as we got older and started learning about mental health and stuff like that because we both, you know, was dealing with mental issues, mental health issues and whatnot, but she didn't let it take over her mind or nothing like that, so we got close talking about that. And like my mom said, she was very joyful and bright, would help anybody out.

Even coming up, like, we always had a house full of people because of our my friends her friends and and um like she was just open to anybody anywhere she went she made a friend got a job or whatever have you um she she she was just she was a lot in a good way um I don't know you said she went to college where'd she go to college she went to ISU Indiana State University

down and up Terre Haute I think it's North or West but yeah it was Terre Haute Indiana she went there um what was she studying? Early childhood development. Oh, we had a special needs education.

She had a thing for... She was able to connect with... And she always corrected me when I said it, but I said autism kids or... She said, no, mother, it's the spectrum. They're on the spectrum. She would always correct me, but she had a niche for them. Sequoia did have a knack and a special connection with kids of all abilities,

and she ended up continuing her education by becoming a medical assistant. And she easily got a job at Jane Pauley Medical Clinic in Indianapolis, where she was well-liked and very successful. Marilyn told us she was one of the only ones who could get the kids to take their vaccines. Sequoia was known for being a giving person and a comfort to all of those around her, which made her a natural fit for a medical profession. My sister-in-law started a school called Hardout Institute, Hardout Education Institute, where they did the medical things like nursing, CNA. So my daughter went there for medical assisting where they did the medical things like nursing, CNA. So my daughter went there for medical assisting.

She graduated the medical assisting program. So she began to work at our medical clinic. Then she went to this other clinic called Jane Polly. It's the community health services. Well, Jane Polly was opening up a new location. So when Sequoia made the manager there, they were like, oh, yes, we got to have you. We need you here to work for us. And that's where she was working. She was working there six months prior to her death.

So she worked there for six months. But in those six months, she made such an impact there. Like she had the keys to open the door. She was like just the kids loved her. Nobody can get the kids to do shots, but my daughter was able to get the kids to take shots and things like that. And they still talk about her to this day. Like I still keep in touch.

Everywhere she went in this scene, people still keep in touch. And so that's who she was. She had this spirit. She had a giving spirit. Her heart was gracious. She let people move in with her. She took in friends, pets, story. I mean,

that's who she was. And so she just was a giver. And I believe she gave. And I think my son mentioned one time, he said, you're the reason she's here, but I misunderstood, you know, but I think he meant because I raised them to be such caring, loving people. And because of where she was and what happened, it's because of her caring and supportive heart. That's how she ended up living here, because she was going to be supportive and going to be a caring friend and things like that. But she was just, she was loud.

She was bold bold she was confident and she was just she was just a light to everyone who knew her and I'm not saying that just because she's my daughter because I'm not going the streets like last year I was somewhere and it was like I had on something a necklace or something I had on they said you knew Sequoia oh my goodness she was everything I said I heard mother they said no I was on, they said, you knew Sequoia? Oh my goodness, she was everything. I said, I'm her mother. They said, no. I said, yes, they begin to tell me stories of how she helped them in school and things like that. It's just everywhere you go, that's how she was. And no matter if she was feeling down or blue, nobody would know outside the door. Like if she would come home and she had a bad day, I would know it or I would see it. But once she

hit the door and was out in society, nobody knew the pain she felt because she hit it so well. And she always had this saying, I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay, mommy. It's okay. It's okay. I'm okay.

And when she passed, that's what helped me get through. Because as she was laying, it was cold, wet, and raining, and she was standing in the cold, wet street. And when she was leaving here, the witnesses were saying, she just kept saying, I'm okay. I'm okay. It's okay. So that's what got me through to know that, you know, I know she's okay. Because even when she was living her last moments, she was letting people know, letting the people that was trying to comfort her, she was comforting them in her last time. So that was Sequoia Williams.

She was just suddenly worried. She come from a caring family, a human family. It seems like she learned to look out for other people early. She did. Even as a kid, I remember she was in middle school, that he came home and he said, Mommy, it's a feeling at the school, and people keep teething because my daughter was a dick.

And so she was misunderstood. So she came home and said, is this girl that people keep boozing because of her shoes? And she was like, do we have anything? She said, I want to get some clothes because I have. And we came out to the hall and we got clothes. She said, we need to call so we can find her some clothes. Do you imagine if we give her some clothes? I said, sure.

Let me call and see what I can do. And she took those clothes to their school, and they, the school just called me and was like, your daughter is such an angel. And the thing is, the girl, she didn't even know Sequoia, but she would pretend to him because she seen kids picking on her. And she said, no, we got to try to get her some clothes because I think the girl that started working at Wendy's or something, but she come from a family where she didn't have the clothes, but she wanted to go to school.

And so I was so proud of my daughter in that moment because I had, you could be thinking about getting things. You could be coming home and talking about getting, but she came home and wanted to help somebody. At her age, that's just, she was like that her whole life. I kept my keys like my son said. I kept them in my titties. My daughter played little league.

She was a little bit in basketball. She loved karaoke. She was in show choir when she got into high school. They called her the karaoke queen. That's what she was known for. But she went to Vegas. She said, I've got to go known for. But she went to Vegas. She said, I've got to go to Vegas.

So she went to Vegas on her 25th birthday. She raised the money. She didn't care if she was going by herself. I don't care if I go by myself. And my nephew wasn't living in Vegas at the time. But she went to Vegas. She got her friend to go with her. And she got out to Vegas. She was excited.

She was, like, just going everywhere. She had to make sure she go to karaoke. Oh, my God. So she went out to Vegas. She was excited. She was, like, just going everywhere. She had to make sure she go to karaoke. Oh, my God. So she went and did karaoke. We love Sean to me, so she did Grease. Grease was one of her things. I was going to ask for her big song. Her karaoke song.

Her song was. Yes, it was Grease. Summer Lovey. She did that. And then her other one was Whitney Houston, I Want to Dance with Somebody. So that has become our family and our theme for her. When I did her event, the theme was, you know, I Want to Dance with Somebody. And we had a picture of Sequoia, and it says, Thank you for dancing with Sequoia. And she was holding her arms up, and it looked just like the Whitney Houston poster from I Want to Dance with Somebody.

So that became our thing. So we always say we want to dance with somebody. So every time that song come on, I get a chill. I get a chill. But one thing I do want to mention, when she was in Vegas, she turned 25. And she was at, is it kind of the skylight? It's something real tall. A stratosphere?

That's what it was. She was there, and she went up to the top of it. She came back down. She was outside, and she was on her phone. And she was looking up, and she made a Snapchat, and she said, what if I fell from up there? I'd be 25 forever. Just two weeks after her 25th birthday,

Sequoia went out to an Indianapolis nightclub to support a longtime friend of hers, Alan, who was performing. His girlfriend, Ebony Paris, and Ebony's sister, Ariel Smith, decided to show up at the club as well. Marilyn was able to share with us what happened that night. The family also had the opportunity to view the video footage from the incident, which Marilyn said made her laugh and made her cry. That night became a belated birthday celebration for Sequoia. People were buying her drinks and she was dancing, lighting up the room as always and having a great time. Security footage showed Ariel getting agitated and management started to keep an eye on her. At one point, she came out of the bathroom and bought two drinks at the bar and threw them in Sequoia's face.

Club security escorted her and Ebony outside. Sequoia was soaking wet and tried to dry herself off. She was there for a good time and wasn't the kind of person to start a fight with someone. She gathered up her stuff and headed outside to go home. We'll let Marilyn tell you more. This part of the interview was understandably quite emotional, so we apologize if it's a little hard to hear at points. When she came home, she dropped by, but he was having a performance.

So she was like, don't tell him. So I told her he was performing. She said, oh, I'm about to go see him. I'm going to surprise him. So she called his brother, and they went out there. Abby, apparently, he and Alan, and he got into it that day. So he uninvited her. She and her sister showed up, you know, unannounced.

And when she walked through the door, she saw her daughter in there. And he said, well, why is she here? So Alan came to the door and she saw my daughter in there. And she said, well, why is she here? So, I came to the door and told her to go home. You know, go home, I don't want to keep you. She said, I'm staying here. Sequoia's in there, I'm staying. So, her sister goes and they give her

the pillow. My daughter's over there still celebrating according to the management. They said my brother lit up the room. They said she was still celebrating her birthday. They said she was going to celebrate her birthday. So, people was by her. And, Dre said she was dancing in the room herself. And so, the two sisters came in,

Daddy and her sister Ariel. So, my daughter was typing Ariel up in the dance contest. And so, she got her to lead the dance contest and everything. And then, my daughter was over there and I was getting ready to everything. And then my daughter was over there, and I was getting ready to wrap. So my daughter was over there in the camera with his brother and the other people. And Ariel kept bumping the tables. Imagine was kind of watching. And so then my daughter was at the bar, and Ariel goes in the bathroom,

and she comes out, and she orders two drinks and she throws the drinks in my daughter's face and my daughter's asinic so she's trying to wipe the drinks off in the bartender's shop and help her go up,

Ariel, and put the drinks in my daughter's face and she suffered, plus her from the back. And so my daughter still didn't do it. Everybody said it was a fight. It was no fight. My daughter did swing that one time, the video show. Everybody said it was a fight. It was no fight. My daughter did swing.

Now, one time, the video show, she didn't put no push. She was busy trying to light her face. She was soaking wet in drinks. Sleek into drinks. And so she stood up and tried to get up. And the people threw the scissors out to put her thing through the mouth to close. My daughter was getting her stuff in her shoes and gathering her purse. So everybody was like,

we got out and so Allie knocked around to the jogger side. This is where Debbie was sitting and so he was buzzing her why are you here? Why did you do that? I can't understand my eyes. It's a security attack down the window where Aria was. And the passenger said, she was like,

what was that about? I thought we were cool. It was a bad dream. How'd you walk this old? what Ariel was. And the passenger said, she was like, what was that about? I thought we all cool, you know. It was a bad injury, so I drew up. And so, then she knocked the window down and somebody said she got a gun.

So, she opened the door and my daughter said, oh, she got a gun. So, they said, my daughter,

where is it? And she backed out of the way. She was like, oh, she was walking away. And so, Ariel just opened the door and just shot my daughter. She shot her right there one time. And so Ariel just spoke in the door and just shut my door. She shot her right

there on time. And so she fell down, they said, and they took off. Now I call it the ambush murk because they were saying it was a fight. There was no fight. The video showed that there was no fight. My daughter didn't swing one fist, didn't swing one punch, didn't slap no hand, nothing. The video showed, and witnesses explained, that Sequoia approached the car and Ariel pulled out a gun. Sequoia put up her hands and backed off, but Ariel shot her anyway. Sequoia was transported to the hospital but did not survive her injuries. When she passed, that's what helped me get through. Because as she was laying, it was cold wet and raining, and she was standing in the cold wet street. And when she was

leaving here, the weaknesses were seen. She just kept saying, I'm okay. I'm okay. It's okay. So that's what got me through to know that, you know, I know she's okay. Because even when she was living her last moments, she was letting people know, letting the people that was trying to comfort her, she was comforting them in her last time. And our family still miss her to this day. She was the loud part of the bunch. Like we still, my mother just just had three children and each of us had two children so we still get together we have sunday dinners that's how we did we got sunday

dinners and her favorite one of her favorite meals was uh meatloaf cabbage and macaroni cheese and she had this thing was like her macaroni cheese had to be wet and he was like what is wet bloody cheese she didn't want it if it was like dry book. And she said, no, I want some wet macaroni cheese. But she had to have meatloaf macaroni cheese in cabbage. That was one of her favorite meals. And so we still have our family dinners, but she loved to play games. She played, we would have game day when we had our dinner.

So one of her favorite games to play was Face He. She loved Face He. And it's a card game called Day. And my mom and my brother, I never learned how to play that. I played spades. But I never learned how to play that. But my daughter picked it up in like 20 minutes. And so that became one of the games that she played with her uncles and her granny.

She was just, it was such a loss to not only Eden Abbas, but to me. My family had a hard time, you know, dealing with it. And my thing is, when I saw about this program, the Missing and the Murdered, and getting justice and how we heal and grieve. People say, well, because I have family members who also have cold cases or they haven't got the justice for their loved ones. So they're saying, well, at least you got justice for your heart.

And I'm like, what do I do with that? Because if the Indian didn't get justice because the human that killed my daughter, she's going to get out when she's 50 something. So she's still going to have a life to live. Both sisters opted for bench trials, where a judge would decide their guilt rather than a jury. And after the three-day trial, the judge found them guilty. Ariel was sentenced to 48 years for

Sequoia's murder and for carrying a handgun without a license. Ebony was found guilty of assisting a criminal, which is a felony, and was sentenced to two years. Over 600 people attended Sequoia's funeral. The CEO of Jane Polly, where she worked, closed the clinic so everyone could attend services. All her former teachers, her high school principal, the dozens and dozens of lives touched by Sequoia, all attended to pay their respects and to comfort Marilyn and her family. My beautiful Sequoia Dargay, I carried you in my womb, a connection couldn't get any closer. Never in a million years a mother should have to bury her little daughter. Sequoia, God gave me 25 years with you, and oh my God, they were something to be remembered. Treasures of memories wrapped in love, laughter, and even tears.

You gave me so much joy, even when you gave me pain. No matter what you've seen or done, it never made a difference because you got your way with everyone. Your loud beauty melted my heart the day you made your interest into my life. I now look at photos of you traveling from 25 years of your beautiful face. Sequoia, you grew into a beautiful young woman with so many pleas I was eager to see. I guess they weren't meant to be, for God said, job well done, mommy. Now I want my child with me. So Corian D'Ale, I will miss you every day. I promise to mourn and grieve you properly so your spirit will be okay. I pray to make it to heaven because I know you will be there. I know you're having a good time

being loud, bold, and bossy as you were. Just please watch over your mommy for sometimes I just feel so alone. I hate you were taken to me. I also know why God called you home. Rest on my beautiful baby girl who grew into a young beautiful young woman. Sequoia my Sequoia you were the best daughter another could ask for. You both lived life out loud. Impacted so many along the way. Meeting no strangers with your lovely personality. Rest on Sequoia rest on. Mommy's okay. I know I'll see you again one day. So many people miss you here on earth. They just don't know you wouldn't come back here to this life for what it's worth. Oh, what I wouldn't give, though, to have you bust through the door yelling,

Mommy, you here? To have me climbing my bed, taking the remote, saying, Wait, I forgot my Mountain Dew. I will love you forever. You're forever 25. I will love you forever. You're forever 25. I will forever miss you. You can rest on Sequoia. Mommy's gonna be okay.

Marilyn hopes that Sequoia's death will bring about change and help increase knowledge and awareness of how lax gun laws can lead to tragedy. And hopefully her story can just let somebody know, just keep on being supportive, keep on being caring, keep on being afraid, be the best creator you can be, the best fantasy mirror you can be.

Just, you know, live life and love life while you can. Because you never know. We are so grateful to Marilyn and her family for sharing so much about Sequoia with us and we're thankful to our colleagues who put together AdvocacyCon and gave us the opportunity to meet with Sequoia's family. It was pure coincidence

that she had such a heartbreaking connection to Las Vegas and we will think about her often and remember what Marilyn told us that it's important to live life while you can. Thank you as always for listening, and rememberpod.co slash subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad-free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Threads at Sins and Survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at questions at sinsandsurvivors.com. If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence

or needs support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com. Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research written and produced by your hosts, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com.