WS Chronicle

Everyone has that one family member, an aunt, uncle or maybe an older cousin, who seems to get along with everyone and has a knack for connecting with the younger generations of the family. For Lachaela Wells-Andrew, that family member was her aunt Deitra. 

“She was just so much fun. She was that auntie who would get all the kids together at the cookouts. She was the first adult that I can remember who treated me like a human being and not a kid,” Wells-Andrew continued. “I left for New York in 1999 after I graduated from Reynolds High School and when I first moved, I would call Deitra every morning … I could not leave out to go to school without calling. Just hearing her voice would help me start my day.”

On the morning of June 4, 2000, Deitra Lynette King was tragically murdered during a domestic dispute. King was held hostage for hours in her own home before authorities heard two shots coming from King’s apartment. After evacuating the rest of the building, officers with the Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD) entered the apartment where they found King, dead of a gunshot wound. 

The investigation into King’s murder indicates she was the victim of a murder-suicide. Rayshawn Wolfe, who was also found inside the apartment, shot King, then turned the gun on himself. 

King, 36, was the mother of four. 

Wells-Andrew remembers that day like it was yesterday. “I remember rushing down there and them having us on stand-by … and the whole time I’m thinking she’s going to walk out. Then the next phone call was when I heard all the screaming … everybody was screaming,” Wells-Andrew said. 

In honor of her aunt, earlier this year Wells-Andrew launched the Deitra L. King Memorial Scholarship, with help from Bold.org, an online scholarship platform and philanthropic organization. 

Wells-Andrew said since moving back to North Carolina, Aunt Deitra has been on her mind a lot. She said the scholarship is a way to keep her legacy alive, while also shining a light on the dangers of domestic violence. 

“Now that I’m around Deitra’s age when she was killed, she’s been on my mind a lot lately,” Wells-Andrew added. “I look at myself and I have so much that I want to do and we don’t know where her hopes and dreams were. We don’t know what she thought about. I’ve always wanted to do a scholarship, but two months ago I decided now is the time … I don’t have any money, but I just felt like now is the time.” 

The Deitra L. King Scholarship is open to any high school senior or undergraduate student in North Carolina who is pursuing a career in human services, such as social work or psychology. Applicants will also complete an essay.

“This is how we continue her legacy. We continue it through the scholarship. We continue it by bringing awareness to domestic violence and mental illness and planting those seeds,” Wells-Andrew said. “We can’t bring Deitra back, but the scholarship is to ensure that her legacy lives on.” 

Wells-Andrew is optimistic that the scholarship is only the beginning. She is currently working on getting a street renamed in King’s honor and five to ten years from now, she hopes to have the Deitra L King Foundation up and running. She said the foundation will help families and individuals overcome domestic violence. 

“This isn’t just about my auntie. Deitra is representing the men and women who have been affected by domestic violence, the children that are left behind,” Wells-Andrew said. “The scholarship is the catalyst to the other things that are going to come about. Ten years from now I see the Deitra L. King Foundation. I see a safe place, a resource center where people can go find the help they need.” 

For more information or to apply for the Deitra L. King Memorial Scholarship, visit https://bold.org/scholarships/deitra-l-king-memorial-scholarship/.