Wednesday marks one year after 17-year-old Alize Henderson of Lubbock was killed. She was stabbed at a home at 2602 East Auburn Street after an ongoing feud on social media spiraled into a fight with another teen. Alize was rushed to UMC where she later died.
Her father, Ivan Williams remembers that day vividly, he said he waited anxiously in the hospital for good news that never came.
One year later, his eyes are still full of tears and his heart heavy. He and other family members went to Henderson’s grave to pay respects to her. They released balloons into the air from her grave.
“We had a real big gust of wind for the balloons, like she was saying go ahead give me my balloons,” Williams laughed.
He is still deeply saddened by how he lost his daughter, and confused as to how the disagreement between the teens got so violent.
“I still don’t understnad that aspect of it and I guess it never will,” he said.
Charges against the teen who stabbed Henderson were dropped in February. Williams said he doesn’t understand that either.
“I feel like my baby had no justice, and I still feel like that,” he said.
But for the most part, Williams doesn’t want to fixate on what happened to Alize, especially on the anniversary of her death he just wants to honor her memory.
Julie Wyatt, associate principal for the Talkington School where Alize attended, visited with EverythingLubbock.com on Wednesday as well. Wyatt said she knew Alize even before she attended Talkington.
“Alize was friendly outgoing, full of life, very social, loved school, had great ambitions for college, a great friend, she was in our big sister little sister program, she was an honor student,” Wyatt explained.
She added that Alize was a Senior the year she died and for students in her graduating class, it was difficult passing each milestone of their final year with Alize missing.
But Alize’s spirit and academic ambition continued to inspire her classmates throughout the year.
Wyatt explained that after Alize was inspired by a college visit over the summer, she hoped to attend UT Arlington and wanted to become a nurse. Wyatt added that Alize’s family was proud that her academic strengths would allow her to make her dreams of heading to college a reality.
“It’s been really neat because the Seniors in her graduating class were adamant about continuing the dream, and they knew what her dream was and they were like we’re going to college and we’re going to do that for Alize,” Wyatt explained.
Alize’s family also worked with Talkington to set up the Alize Henderson Memorial Scholarship Fund so that other students can benefit from her love of learning.
Two Talkington students were awarded the scholarship this past school year, and Williams said he hopes to continue the scholarship for many years into the future.
Though Alize was never able to walk across the stage at graduation, her Talkington diploma sits in the center of William’s living room, a reminder of what she worked for.
For Williams this year has been a difficult journey. He is coping by taking every opportunity to rejoice in his memories of Alize.
“Life can come and life can go, but memories stay forever, her memory her legacy, her lipstick colors,” Williams said, “It’s just gonna go on forever, because we have the memory.”