Two 1993 Grads Die in Suspected Murder-Suicide

Two members of the Class of 1993 died on January 13 in an alleged murder-suicide in Los Angeles. According to police, Chinua O. Sanyika '93 shot and killed his girlfriend Anthea M. Williams '93 at approximately 11:30 a.m. in her Los Angeles apartment.

Sanyika, 24, was in his first year at Stanford Medical School. Williams, a 25-year-old native of South Africa, was working in L.A. at the South African Consulate.

West Los Angeles Police Detective Detron Phillips said yesterday that investigators believe a third person was involved in the alleged murder-suicide. Phillips refused to identify that person beyond saying that it is a man.

Sanyika and Williams apparently met as undergraduates, when both were Mather House residents. Both were also government concentrators and were active in Aids Education Outreach (AEO).

Members of the Harvard community who knew the two as students expressed their shock and grief yesterday afternoon.

"He was such a wonderful, wonderful guy," said Adrienne Landau, secretary for the University Health Service's department of health education.

Jeanne L. Kwong '96, co-chair of AEO, recalled yesterday meeting Sanyika during her first year.

"I met him because he interviewed me to go into the group," she said. "He was very nice."

Aside from saying that a third party appeared to be involved, police could offer little insight into the alleged murder-suicide.

Friends and faculty at Stanford Medical School said they had idea whether Sanyika was having emotional or academic troubles.

"I knew him very well. He was a gentleman," Elliott Wolfe, associate dean of medical student and graduate student affairs, told the Stanford Daily on Wednesday. "He did quite well. No academic difficulties at all."

A memorial service was held at Stanford Wednesday, after a friend of Sanyika's family notified the school of his death.

Khalid Channell, a first-year student at Stanford Medical School and a friend of Sanyika, told the Stanford Daily that Sanyika had missed classes after returning from spending winter break with his family in Altadena, Ca.

Phillips said a memorial service for Williams was scheduled some time this week and that the body would then be returned to South Africa for burial.

Sanyika's funeral took place Wednesday in an Islamic cemetery in Las Vegas, according to the Stanford Daily. The family will hold a memorial on February 26 in accordance with the Islamic tradition of commemorating the deceased 40 days after death.

"As supervisor, I worked very closely with both Chinua and Anthea, and I am shocked and deeply saddened by this news. I know both of them planned to attend medical school, and Chinua received a fellowship for a one-year public service project doing HIV/AIDS prevention education and program development. I greatly appreciated each of them during the time we worked together," said Linda J. Frazier, UHS health education coordinator and AEO supervisor

"I knew him very well. He was a gentleman," Elliott Wolfe, associate dean of medical student and graduate student affairs, told the Stanford Daily on Wednesday. "He did quite well. No academic difficulties at all."

A memorial service was held at Stanford Wednesday, after a friend of Sanyika's family notified the school of his death.

Khalid Channell, a first-year student at Stanford Medical School and a friend of Sanyika, told the Stanford Daily that Sanyika had missed classes after returning from spending winter break with his family in Altadena, Ca.

Phillips said a memorial service for Williams was scheduled some time this week and that the body would then be returned to South Africa for burial.

Sanyika's funeral took place Wednesday in an Islamic cemetery in Las Vegas, according to the Stanford Daily. The family will hold a memorial on February 26 in accordance with the Islamic tradition of commemorating the deceased 40 days after death.

"As supervisor, I worked very closely with both Chinua and Anthea, and I am shocked and deeply saddened by this news. I know both of them planned to attend medical school, and Chinua received a fellowship for a one-year public service project doing HIV/AIDS prevention education and program development. I greatly appreciated each of them during the time we worked together," said Linda J. Frazier, UHS health education coordinator and AEO supervisor