Katherine Williams-Dunning, the daughter of country music superstar Hank Williams Jr., died in a car crash Saturday night in Tennessee. She was 27 years old.
According to Wes Moster, the state’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security Communications Director, Katherine Williams-Dunning was driving a 2007 Chevy Tahoe. They were heading southbound on a highway in Henry County, Tennessee, with a boat in tow, when it crashed. Katherine’s husband, Tyler Dunning, was also in the passenger seat.
The SUV was crossing the dividing median of the highway and started “a rollover sequence.” The vehicle then crossed the northbound lanes before it came to a stop on the roadway’s shoulder.
Katherine Williams-Dunning was killed. Her husband, on the other hand, was flown by air to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. However, the authorities did not provide his current condition. The investigation into the crash is still ongoing.
The couple got married in October 2015. They had two children together, 5-year-old son Beau and 2-year-old daughter Audrey. Their family lived near Kentucky Lake, about 100 miles west of Nashville.
Family and Friends Were Mourning For Katherine William’s Tragic Death
Katherine’s brother, Samuel Williams, was the first to share the sad news of her accident through a heartbreaking Facebook post, which has since gone private. He asked fans to pray for his sister and her husband.
“My sister and brother in law have been in a terrible accident. Please pray for them so hard! Katie Williams and Tyler Dunning,” he wrote in one post.
Katherine’s older sister, singer Holly Williams, also turned to Instagram to express her sadness with her sister’s death. “I have no words. On Friday morning, I talked the family into taking this picture and had no idea it would be our last together with my precious little sister Katie. We all went to my great aunt’s funeral on Thursday, whom we all loved dearly, and now we are faced with another one,” Williams wrote. “ALL we need is prayers.”
She also said that her brother-in-law, Dunning, was “awake and responding.”
Celebrities, including model Lily Aldridge and actor Rita Wilson and Reese Witherspoon, commented under her post with their condolences. “I’m so so sorry. Praying for your family,” wrote Witherspoon.
“This news is just heartbreaking,” country music star Travis Tritt also wrote on his Twitter. “My family and I knew Katie ever since she was a kid.”
“I cannot even imagine what Hank, Mary Jane, and the rest of the Williams family are going through right now. Please say a prayer for all of them and share your love any way you can.”
Hundreds of people have also gathered at the football stadium at Henry County High School — Katherine’s alma mater — to remember her life. Several family members sang songs and shared stories about Katherine Williams. Holly Williams played one of her songs titled “The Highway,” one of Katherine’s favorite songs.
Katherine, whose family called her Katie, was the youngest daughter among Mary Jane and Thomas Hank Williams Jr.’s five children. While her siblings followed their father’s footsteps, pursuing their own careers in music, Katherine ran the clothing company called Weston Jane, which celebrates women and moms “of purpose spreading peace and kindness” and “as a way to build moms up.”
She designed all of the Weston Jane items herself. Though she once admitted that when starting the company a little over a year ago, her “mom guilt was out of control.”
“I felt like while trying to do this amazing thing for myself and my family, I was, in fact, spending less time with them,” she wrote. “That is when it hit me, that would be my platform, supporting other moms. In a world where moms and women are constantly criticized and torn down, I wanted my business to be a place where they could be built up.”
In 2014, Katherine also appeared on Season 7 of the TLC bridal reality series Say Yes to the Dress, when she was on a hunt for her gown ahead of her wedding to Tyler.
During the episode, in which her father has also appeared, Katherine found the one.
“She said YES to the DRESS! Katherine, the daughter of Hank Williams Jr., said yes to our ‘Fantine’ gown and looked absolutely beautiful on her wedding day! We loved every minute of this episode,” Matthew Christopher, bridal gown designer, wrote on Instagram after the wedding.