Serena Williams's Sister Yetunde Price Was Shot in the Head by a Gang Member

Although some people didn't catch it in the moment, Serena Williams was a part of Kendrick Lamar's electrifying halftime performance at Super Bowl LIX. Serena was only featured for a moment, doing a dance known as the Crip walk while Kendrick performed "Not Like Us."

The dance was pretty clearly meant to be a rebuke to Drake, who "Not Like Us" is about, and whom Serena was rumored to have dated for several years. Many were shocked to see Serena performing the dance because of a violent incident that happened decades ago in her family related to the death of her sister Yetunde Price. Here's what we know about what happened to her.

Yetunde Price, Serena and Venus Williams's half-sister, was shot in the head and killed during a drive-by shooting 2003. The murder was committed by a member of the Crips gang in Compton, Calif. Yetunde had inadvertently parked her SUV outside a crack house in the area, and she and her boyfriend were fired upon after members of the Crips got suspicious and began to suspect the car was connected to a rival gang.

Robert Edward Maxfield, who was 25 at the time, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter the day before his third trial for the killing of Yetunde. The first two trials had ended in a mistrial.

In 2004, Serena spoke about her sister's death, saying: "She was a wonderful person. We're dealing with it however we can. Some days are better than others."

The reason Yetunde's death is back in the news is because Serena chose to do the Crip Walk, a dance associated with the gang that has been performed by several major rappers from the Compton area, during her appearance at the Super Bowl.

"Serena Williams sister was killed by Crips. Today she was Crip Walking on live TV to get back at her ex Drake," one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

This is not the first time that Serena has employed the dance, though. She did something similar in 2012 after defeating Maria Sharipova in the gold medal match at the Olympics. Serena's celebration was widely criticized at the time both because of her personal connection to the Crips and because some saw it as unbecoming of a tennis champion.

Of course, while the dance is called the Crip Walk, it has come to represent something far broader than just the Crips. The dance is meant to represent Compton, where both Serena and Kendrick are from, and is undoubtedly a nod to their heritage and the struggles that both of them faced growing up. It's a nod to their very real heritage, which is part of what "Not Like Us" is about.

While some might find the dance insensitive, it seems like Serena and her family should ultimately be the judge of whether the dance is appropriate or not.