Mother, daughter, both unvaccinated Miami-Dade school employees die of COVID-19

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade County public school teacher and her daughter, a school canteen principal, died of complications with COVID-19 at Jackson South Medical Center.

Two teenagers are in distress with their mother, Lakisha Williams, and their grandmother, Lillian Smith, a first-grade teacher at Dr. William A. Chapman, in the Orange Quarter of Miami-Dade County.

Williams’ husband, Jermaine Williams, said she and Smith were not vaccinated against COVID-19 and were admitted to the hospital in early August. Williams had been promoted recently.

“I was so proud when she got her degree to be this manager and my wife only did it, not even for a month,” the grieving widower said through tears.

Jermaine Williams described Smith, her mother-in-law, as “a wonderful lady” who loved her students as “her babies.”

Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade County superintendent, said the family tragedy is a painful reminder of the destruction of the coronavirus. Jermaine Williams said that while suffering in the hospital, one of her last wishes was to make sure her two teenagers were vaccinated against COVID-19.

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