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WHAT A RETURN
Saga of Serena Williams’ crumbling childhood home comes to ‘unlikely end’ after stepmom ‘stole’ house from King Richard
'King Richard' is said to be back with his young wife
THE long-running legal saga involving Serena and Venus Williams' childhood home will come to an end in a week as their father enters a surprising new life chapter.
His $1.4 million home will be sold to the highest bidder to pay off the half-million debt racked up by their stepmom, Lakeisha Williams.
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The U.S. Sun has been reporting on the case for more than a year after the former stripper allegedly stole the Florida house right from under Richard's nose.
When the frail 82-year-old found out his much younger wife, 45, changed the title deeds into her name without his knowledge, he filed for divorce.
But seven years later, he backtracked.
The seven-year drama appears to be coming to an end with the most unlikely of outcomes - a romantic reunion between Lakeisha and Richard.
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They are already in a romantic and sexual relationship, according to her lawyer.
If this is the case, then they are doing it behind the back of his son Chavoita LesSane, who is adamant that his father is being taken advantage of.
On July 18, the day of the auction, Lakeisha will be without a home and, if it's believed they are back together, she'll be living with Richard in his new home just a few miles away in Palm Beach Gardens.
Ironically - considering Lakeisha is losing the home that's been in the Williams family since Serena was 14 - this new property is owned by Serena herself.
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She had to act after her dad filed for divorce and needed to get out of the house that he no longer owned.
SON'S CLAIMS
Lakeisha replicated his signature to sign over the four-bed mansion into her name - and then she borrowed $279,000 using the house as collateral from hard lender David Simon to blow the lot on a disastrous trucking business and "fast food and frivolities."
Serena Williams' dad King Richard's eerie prediction about his daughters' futures revealed in new trailer
This rose to nearly $620,000 at one stage, including legal fees and interest, after Simon sued to get his money back.
It now sits at $436,113, with the proceeds from the house sale paying him and her other 20-plus creditors off.
This was allegedly not her first misdemeanor, but took advantage of the legendary tennis coach's state to fake his signature to sell his cars and cash his social security checks, according to Chavoita.
Time is sadly not on Richard's side after three strokes, the onset of dementia, and memory loss, according to court documents and family sources.
They met at a tennis tournament while she was working as a dancer called "Angel" and have a son, Dylan, now 12.
But it appears Lakeisha is having the last laugh, and Richard is sticking by her.
A furious Chavoita has been threatening an elder abuse lawsuit for over a year.
He claims Richard didn't go through with the divorce as he wasn't fit to continue the battle and will refile at a later date.
He told The U.S. Sun in an exclusive interview, "I can't remember how long it was into the relationship as far as my dad starting to have financial headaches, like, 'What's going on with my social security checks?'
"Lakeisha took the Mercedes, she took the bus, she took money, what else was it? The motorcycle.
Richard and Lakeisha's Divorce Timeline
Photo credit: Getty
Richard Williams has been keen to finalize his divorce from Lakeisha Graham for years but their case has dragged out amid a fight over their marital home.
The couple married in 2010 when Lakeisha was 32 and Richard was 69.
Williams is a hands-on father to their young son, Dylan, known as Junior, and has tried to maintain a good relationship with his ex despite the court case.
May 2017
- Richard filed for divorce from Lakeisha after seven years of marriage. He claimed in his initial petition that she had forged his name on a deed transfer for their home and stole his Social Security checks.
March 2020
- Court documents revealed excerpts from Lakeisha's testimony, in which she admits to forging her ex's signature and also selling his 1999 Bluebird Wanderlodge Motor Coach, worth $45,000. But she claimed she did so as he had left her and their son to starve, which his legal team denied.
February 2022
- Lakeisha told a judge that her stepdaughter Serena wanted to lock her out of the family home. She claimed a letter from the tennis star's lawyers "threatened to change the locks" if she did not vacate the property. Her legal team at the time did not respond to requests for comment.
June 2022
- Richard filed a $1 million lawsuit against Lakeisha, despite her claiming in court documents they had reconciled and had been sleeping together again, which he later denied.
July 2022
- Their home was valued at $1.45 million and was due to be auctioned off, but Lakeisha filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and stalled the sale. The bankruptcy case was dismissed on July 5 but she filed to have it reinstated claiming she had found money for a repayment plan. She was in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt after taking out a huge loan from a hard lender and not paying it back.
January 2023
- The U.S. Sun sat down with Richard for a world-exclusive interview in which he accused ex-stripper Lakeisha of "taking everything" and blowing his cash. Asked how he feels about the split, he said, "I just want a divorce. It's been six years, man. Just a bunch of junk, junk, junk. [I'm] so tired of that junk now." But he didn't seem to be getting any closer to finalizing it and his lawsuit was tossed out by a judge.
August 2023
- It was revealed Lakeisha was struggling to keep up with her repayment plan as she battled to keep the house, where she was said to be living despite it needing extensive repair work.
April 2024
- Richard missed a court date and deposition as he suffers from speech problems due to strokes, and didn't want to be misunderstood. As a result, he had the case dismissed but planned to refile. Lakeisha tried for months to stave off the house being sold at auction by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times, but each attempt failed.
"There are so many things that she stole or forged documents for him. That's considered elder abuse.
"We're just putting all of it together, it's a lot. This whole situation has been frustrating.”
Despite Chavoita's protestations, it appears that they'll be a couple again in a home paid for by Serena, who dished out $815,000 for the one-story property in June 2015.
The place has four bedrooms, five bathrooms, and over 4,160 square feet of living space.
It's 16 miles away from the house where he taught Serena and Venus on two tennis courts, which are still there to this day.
Meanwhile, a new documentary could reveal more about Serena's childhood being taught by her father, who was determined to turn his girls into sporting superstars.
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In the Arena: Serena Williams is a new eight-part TV docuseries that will focus on the tennis star's pro career and life after retirement, according to reports.
The first installment aired on Wednesday, July 10 on ESPN+, and the following episodes will drop every Wednesday at 9 pm Pacific until the season finale on August 28.
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