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BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Even after spending more than three decades as friends, Marrero native Jody Neil says his friendship with Steven Williamson still felt as exciting and fresh as ever. He is devastated it has ended in tragedy.

“I just want people to know that the world lost an amazing person who didn’t deserve to die like this,” said Neil.

Steven Williamson (L) and Jody Neil (R)(WAFB)

Sheriff’s deputies found Williamson dead inside his home on West Bates Road in Livingston Parish Monday.

Investigators suspect his wife, Jenny Williamson, killed him and a her 8-year-old nephew before turning the gun on herself. Sheriff Jason Ard says the effort to uncover the motive continues.

Neil says he learned about the tragedy early Monday morning from Williamson’s brother, Darren, who had seen the horrific crime scene firsthand.

He describes coming to terms with his best friend’s death as a bad dream. A nightmare that brought back a familiar feeling of emptiness he hadn’t felt in years.

“It’s like when my dad died 11 years ago. That’s the feeling I’m having right now. He was that close to me,” he said.

Neil has found an escape from that feeling by remembering the good times with his best friend.

The two men grew up in the same neighborhood in Marrero. Over 34 years they’d laughed together, cried together, and had become “brothers,” Neil says.

They shared a love of New Orleans sports. Together they went to Saints games and had dubbed themselves “Pels partners” who cheered on the New Orleans Pelicans.

Neil says the games were always more fun when Williamson was around.

“He was just an amazing individual that would light up a room and get everybody laughing in seconds with his sense of humor. He was a people person who lived to make people laugh and would help anybody he thought needed help and was defenseless,” he said.

The young boy the Williamsons were looking after was among the people Neil remembers Williamson was dedicated to helping.

Neil says Williamson loved the boy deeply and made it a point to tell everyone the boy was his son, even though the boy was not Williamson’s biological child.

He says Williamson was the type of person who passionately cared for his family and friends and wanted to put that passion on display.

“If you were in his circle, you knew you had a real one in your corner,” he said.

Neil recalls that Williamson always supported him through tough times and stood by his side during some of the best times. That included being the best man at Neil’s wedding.

But as Neil remembers and honors the life of his best friend, he joins many others in wondering why things spiraled out of control.

He says he “wasn’t surprised” when police named Williamson’s wife as the suspect in his murder because he found certain aspects of their relationship concerning. Neil says he even counseled his friend to consider ending the relationship after things got rocky between the couple over the last year.

The answers may not come as soon as Neil or others who cared for Williamson may hope. But Neil says the most important thing to do now is to hold the positive memories of Williamson close to his heart until they meet again.

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