Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made a passionate plea on social media this week calling for help in finding a woman’s killer.
“AKRON OHIO,” James wrote on Twitter.
“My brother’s sister was murdered this past weekend in her home! My brother family need answers to why and by whom. My city I need y’all to go to work and find out who did this awful, shameful, disgusting thing to such a caring, loving angel!”
AKRON OHIO!! My brother’s sister was murdered this past weekend in her home! My brother family need answers to why and by whom. My city I need y’all to go to work and find out who did this awful, shameful, disgusting thing to such a caring, loving angel! #Justice4EricaWeems❤️💔
— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 4, 2020
Newsweek reported that Erica is the sister of James’ close friend Brandon Weems. At the moment, details regarding what specifically happened to Erica are scarce. Presumably more information will come out in the coming days and weeks regarding what exactly transpired.
A 2019 Michigan Live article described Brandon as “James’ right-hand man” and noted that he “is one of James’ closest homeboys from Akron, Ohio.”
“I make sure I look out for him,” James said at the time. “He’s my little brother.”
The pair’s relationship dates back to playing in pee wee together and ran through high school, when they played for St. Vincent-St. Mary.
“Entering James’ inner circle didn’t happen overnight,” the Michigan Live article noted.
LeBron didn’t like what he saw. https://t.co/d7BRplBigT
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 4, 2020
“Weems’ and James’ friendship first started through Pee Wee football as teammates at 5 and 6 years old. From there, they continuously played in the same sports organizations, spent nights at each other’s homes, battled in intense backyard sessions and built a strong connection.”
James considered Weems’ family his own family.
“Weems’ mother, the late Brenda Weems, adopted a godmother role to James and his oldest son, LeBron Jr. Brenda Weems passed away at 45 years old on April 16, 2006, after a long battle with cancer,” the Michigan Live article noted.
This is how you get into the spirit of Halloween. https://t.co/AcyucHrDHS
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 1, 2020
“So James decided to dedicate his first career playoff game to her after visiting her wake the night before and signing her name and ‘R.I.P’ on his exclusive white/gold Nike Zoom LeBron 20-5-5 sneakers as a tribute.”
James’ relationship with Brandon is one based on immense trust and loyalty.
“He is one of the guys that can tell me whatever he sees,” James said. “If I’m doing great or if I’m BS’ing myself, so to have that type of support is great.”
Yikes. https://t.co/WTnKp7OMzy
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 3, 2020
And Brandon has never taken that relationship for granted.
“People always want to come up to me and ask about him, saying they need this and that,” Weems added. “I try to help when I can, but for the most part I’m like ‘Hey man, that’s like my brother’ and we don’t have that kind of relationship. I don’t want to put him in any kind of crazy position. They think that just because it’s LeBron that he can do anything. I don’t like when it’s coming, but also I know that it’s a part of it.”
Police have yet to issue a comment on Erica’s death. Presumably that will come sooner rather than later. Anyone with information on the incident should contact the local police department as quickly as possible.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
