The father of tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams has filed for divorce from his second wife, court documents show.
In a filing posted May 15 in Palm Beach County Court, Richard Dove Williams alleges Lakeisha Juanita Williams, whom he married Dec. 29, 2010, abandoned both him and their child, born in 2012, and has “mistreated the husband and otherwise purposely caused his health to suffer.”
He claimed she cleaned out both their joint bank account and a separate account that was just his.
An attorney for Lakeisha Williams denied Richard Williams’ claims.
According to the divorce petition, Williams “is concerned that the wife is addicted to alcohol” and that she has sometimes picked up the child at Richard Williams’s home long after the child’s bedtime and has “exposed it to unreasonable and dangerous conditions.”
The petition said Richard Williams, 75, wants to keep the child at his home because it has known no other and attends a preschool nearby.
The petition said Lakeisha Williams, 38, has moved in with someone who has “serious criminal felony charges pending who could impose a danger to the minor child.” It did not elaborate or name the person.
And it said Lakeisha Williams took several of her husband’s firearms without his consent.
The petition said Lakeisha Williams had worked as a license nurse’s assistant and that “neither party is entitled to alimony.”
Williams also asked he not have to distribute his assets evenly, which presumably would include money he gained from his daughters, whom he is credited with shaping into top-ranked players.
“The wife has dissipated, sold and secreted” Williams’ assets and forged his signature in a deed transferring one of his pre-marriage properties to her, and to transfer numerous cars to her. He also shays she forged his name on a $152,000 mortgage on his pre-marriage home.
Richard Williams’ “malicious and fabricated allegations will be completely disproven in court and they are being alleged for the sole purpose of attempting to deceive the court into not awarding child support and alimony to his child and wife,” Miami attorney Sandy Becher, attorney for Lakeisha Williams, told The Palm Beach Post on Thursday.
Lawyers for Richard Williams did not immediately return calls Wednesday.
Richard Williams was divorced from Oracene Williams, Venus and Serena’s mother, in 2002 after allegations of domestic violence surfaced. Lakeisha Williams was a Broward County grocery store owner.
