There are several life lessons that Johnathan Williams taught his five children.

Don’t eat ice cream off a paper plate.

If you visit the house more than once, you are no longer a guest, you are family.

Never say sorry on the basketball court.

Don’t stop until the whistle blows.

That last one was meant for the basketball court as well but it is now a lesson they will be putting into practice as they continue to process the loss of their father and deal with the arrest of a teenage suspect.

Williams. 48, was killed in a three-vehicle collision that happened on Dec. 29, 2023, in the area of West Christoffersen Parkway and North Kilroy Road, near Pitman High School. Williams was a passenger in a 2018 Dodge Journey driven by his 19-year-old son, Jordan Williams.

Jordan was on W. Christophersen Parkway and was preparing to turn left onto N. Kilroy Road when the Dodge was struck by a Toyota Camry driven by a 16-year-old boy. (He has since turned 17).

The investigation by the Turlock Police Department’s Major Accident Investigation Team found that the Camry driver was traveling at 95 miles per hour as he approached the intersection. The report said he sped up to 98 miles per hour in the 2.1 seconds before he hit the brakes and collided with the Dodge.

The Camry struck the Dodge at an approximate speed of 60 miles per hour, according to the MAIT report.

The force of the collision sent the Camry into a third vehicle that was stopped at the intersection.

The MAIT report stated Jordan showed “due regard as he entered the intersection on a green light and began his turn on a yellow light. At this time the Toyota Camry was more than 550 feet south of the intersection.”

The report concluded that the Camry would not have been in the intersection if the teen driver had not been speeding. According to the report, the teenager told the officers he was “trying to beat the yellow light.”

The 17-year-old boy has been arrested and booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, failure to obey restricted driver’s license provisions, unsafe speed, and reckless driving resulting in bodily injury.

Williams, also known as “Big John,” was a fixture in Turlock basketball for many years. He was actively involved in youth camps and was the longtime assistant for Turlock’s boys varsity basketball team alongside Doug Cornfoot. In 2019, he took the helm as the Bulldogs’ varsity girls head coach. He served in the position until midway through the 2020-21 season. Since then, he has served as an assistant for both Cornfoot and current girls head coach Erica Hernandez.

Many in the community knew Williams from the many years he coached youth and high school basketball. He was a towering figure on the sidelines and in the lives of his children and his absence has hit them unexpectedly, especially to not see or hear him on the basketball court.

“He worked at the Tesla plant in Fremont,” said Shea Williams, who along with her sister Jaydon Williams, sat down with the Journal at their attorney Adam Stewart’s office in Modesto, to discuss their father and the recent arrest of a 17-year-old boy in connection to his death. “He would wake up at three or four in the morning to go to work to get back in time to be able to make it to essentially all our games, since we were in junior high. And then on top of that he was coaching.”

“Last year I was at Humboldt and there was one game where he had worked all day then drove six hours just to watch me play and then drive back after my game,” Jaydon said. “When I think about him, I think about that game and how dedicated he was. That shows a lot about his character. He was always family first.”

One of William’s greatest joys, according to his daughters, was that he got to coach all of his children on the basketball court, one of his other great passions. But if they ever thought that being the coach’s kid would afford them some special privileges, he was quick to set them straight.

“He actually cut my brother in his senior year,” Shea said. “Our brother tried out his senior year, but he didn’t really have the passion for it, so, he didn’t make the team. Our dad loved the competitiveness and hated losing. So, he was always going to do what was best for the team.”

He also strove to do what was best for the young players he was helping mold, both on and off the court, his daughters said.

“He treated all his players like they were his own children and was very protective of them,” Jaydon said.

Given the commitment that he showed to helping kids, the fact that it was a teen driver accused of causing the collision adds another layer of grief for the family.

 “You learn from your mistakes. That’s something we were all taught from when we were very little, even on the basketball court,” Shea said. “He also believed in consequences. If you got caught doing something wrong there were going to be consequences. But he would also tell us that this one mistake doesn’t have to define you for the rest of your life. So, I think that he would want to see justice served but not have it ruin this kid’s life.”

The family also wanted to express their gratitude to the entire community and all the basketball teams around the region. They have had meal trains, monetary donations and scholarships established in his memory.

“We want to thank everyone that has been there for us,” Jaydon said.