When she was a feisty, caring child, Ameya Spratley would bring home stray cats and dogs and nurse them back to health. So it was no surprise the her father, William Spratley, when she told him she was expecting her first child at age 16.
Though it would be a challenge, she knew she had the tender heart to handle it. After all, he knew all it entailed to be a young parent because he was the same age when Ameya, known as Meya, was born.
The first thing he asked Meya as they discussed this important event was, “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Meya’s answer was, “Yes daddy, I want to raise my child.” With such a close family, having support was no issue. They were all excited to witness each step of the way as she and the child grew.
After her son William was born, Anthony and Ethan came along. But sadly, Meya wasn’t able to see her own children grow. On Jan. 11, 2010, she was stabbed and strangled to death, the first domestic-violence victim of the year. Her boyfriend Keith Moore, 24, was sent to prison for life in her murder. She was 28.
Like a lot of young parents, Meya would find herself short with money but each Father’s Day she would make sure Willie had a card from Dollar General with a tie on it because he loves ties. Willie recalls the last Father’s Day card she gave him when they met downtown and she said, “Dad, I don’t have much money but here is your Father’s Day card from the boys and I. This card had three ties on it with the signatures of each one of three Kings, William, Anthony and Ethan.”
Willie often thinks back to when Meya lived with him and misses still misses her deeply. “She was not only my only child but my best friend. I was a teen father learning life as well as teaching her about life.”
One thing Ameya always reminded him of was to be kind. Her smile would light up a room, and everyone loved her. She had a passion for music, R & B and rap the most, but liked a lot of different artists. She also taught herself different dance moves that she and her father would practice on a consistent basis. They would dance for hours and laugh at each other’s dance moves until they perfected them to the best of their abilities. Music was Meya’s escape from life, one would say.
And she absolutely adored her father’s cooking. “Especially my greens,” he said.
One thing that she stopped eating was pork, said her mother, Tracey Whitfield. But that didn’t stop her from enjoying it on very special occasions. On holidays, you would find Meya in the kitchen pilling her plate with one of her favorite Southern delicacies, chitlins. She would smile at her mother and say “you didn’t see this.”
Besides her love of Southern food, Meya also picked up good habits from her relatives. Tracey recalls sending Meya down South for a visit and when she came home she would answer you as, “yes ma’am, no sir.” Even when the other children would make fun of her, she showed that sign of respect towards others.
One of Tracey’s fondest memories of Meya was teaching her two younger sisters how to drink with her when they turned 21 years old. They would be in the backyard playing games for hours laughing, drinking, having conversations and eating until they fell asleep. “She taught them a lot and gave them so much big sister advice,” Tracey said, describing her daughter as a feisty, loving mom who loved to have fun but didn’t back down from others.. “Her sisters miss her so much.”
When Meya was murdered, Willie said, there were not a lot of places that offered support services, but he found support in an organization called Women Against Abuse. A support specialist assisted the family throughout the legal process, as well as other legal issues we had to face. She became not just a source of resources but a friend that still keeps in touch.
Willie went on to speak to other domestic survivors, families and at events, and he and his daughter were even honored in 2014 with the renaming of the Philadelphia Emergency Shelter to Ameya’s Place, where abused women gain shelter free from abuse. This facility houses up to 100 women and children.
Although Willie continues to hurt from the loss of his daughter, he is on the road to healing each day.“God saved me! If it wasn’t for the Three Kings, I don’t know where I would be.” Willie honored his daughter by making sure all three of her children were always together, and he ensures the bond with their mother by keeping her memory alive. They are now 26, 24, and 13.
Since Ethan was a baby when his mother was murdered, he doesn’t remember her. But Willie kept a trunk and presented it to Ethan on his 11th birthday to bring her closer to him.
Willie hopes that Ameya’s death will send a message to other victims of domestic abuse.
“Talk to someone, let someone know what you are going through. Know your worth,” he said. “Your mothers love you, your fathers love you. Men should always respect women, women respect yourself. Love shouldn’t hurt.”
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