Violet lived in Compton, California with her mother, Earlene Williams; her sister, Ivy Matory, and her half-sister, Yolanda Williams. On July 20, 1977, a boy named Sir-Kristopher Marshall was spending the night. At 4:30am., the house caught fire and burned to the ground. Earlene's body was found inside near the front door; she had been strangled. The children were not in the residence. There was a trail of blood leading from the house down an alley, where it stopped. The bleeding person apparently got into a car there. Authorities determined the fire erupted in the room where all the children slept. In 1977, Yolonda's father, was charged with murdering the four missing children. Authorities stated the three girls were supposed to testify against him in the sexual abuse case, which was scheduled to go to court the day before they disappeared.