Model Dead, Dancer Critically Injured in Fall from W Hotel Window

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a popular local model is dead and her friend is clinging to life at Grady hospital intensive care unit after both women fell from a window at the W Hotel early this morning.

Police say LaShawna Threatt (left) and Ciara Williams, a dancer, were play fighting at a party on the 10th floor of the posh W Hotel when they crashed through a window around 3:30 am. An external ledge 5 stories down broke their fall. Threatt died on the ledge, but Williams rolled off and fell an additional 5 floors to the ground. She remains in critical condition at Grady hospital.

Earlier in the evening, Threatt, a single mother of one, celebrated her 30th birthday with a small group of friends at an Atlantic Station restaurant. The party eventually moved to the roof of the nearby W Hotel on 14th street, and then to a hotel room on the 10th floor, according to friends.

Jomarys Castillo, a friend of Threatt's who didn't attend the party, told the AJC that Threatt was a local model who was well-known. "It was her 30th birthday and it was wonderful and fabulous, just like she was," said Castillo.

Workers repair shattered glass on an elevated 5th floor ledge where Lashawna Threatt and Ciara Williams landed. Photos: JOHNNY CRAWFORD, JCRAWFORD@AJC.COM

"LaShawna is a mess, a silly goofball. She likes to playfight and tickle you," added Passionate Chonvill, a friend of Threatt's who also didn't attend the party.

"They had just gotten in the hotel and were having a good time," Chonvill said. "My friends who were there, said it was so random. They literally just fell out the window. They are two small girls and I am trying to figure out how the hell, two small girls could break a window like that."

Another friend, who asked not to be identified, said friends who attended the party told her something was wrong with the window. "When they fell through, everybody in the room screamed," she said.

In a statement to the AJC, hotel manager Michael O'Donohue said:

"The incident at the W Atlanta early Saturday is very tragic and our thoughts and prayers are with the woman who was injured and the family and friends of the woman who died in the fall. There is a police investigation underway and all information must come from the authorities."

Lashawna Threatt Facebook

Originally posted on May 28, 2011 @ 6:39pm

  • militaryspouse1

    Omg this is so sad. Im praying the one who is in critical condition survives. R.I.P. to Thread who didnt make it. Such a tragedy...

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYbDg242EY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1 His_Mommy623

    omg this is terrible... I :pray: for the surviving one..
    may LaShawna rest in peace...she was gawjus..damn..

  • http://sandrarose.com Sandra Rose

    No human being can survive a 10-story plunge. I'm sure Ciara is on life support. :(

  • datsmdubya2u

    Wow was the glass single paned glass? This is very strange and tragic. I'm very sorry for the 15yr old who lost her mother.

  • Iblondon

    RIP. the window must not have been that secure. I also feel sorry for the people who witnessed it.

  • Melissa

    Wow!!! This is some ish out of a movie....so sad i pray for their family! This is tragic indeed!!! Hopefully that break in her fall helps her to survive this...I pray she makes it through! God is good!

  • Melissa

    Oan: I smell a lawsuit...smh

  • SylentDreamz

    My thoughts are with the ladies families. This is so tragic and random! R.I.P.

  • getyourhandouttamypocket

    My goodness...how awful. God bless their families.

  • Daisy

    Talk about a freak/tragic accident and I def see a lawsuit coming as well. This is beyond sad/heartbreaking.

    Praying for the survivor and victims family :pray:

    SN I still haven't been to the rooftop at the W yet, I hear its nice though.

  • KrayZKat

    Accidents like this make you think about the brevity of life. Here these young ladies were celebrating, and without a moment's notice, one is gone and the other clinging to life.

    My heart goes out to the family, friends, and everyone else affected by this tragedy.

    I don't understand how a window, especially that far up, could be so weak. Someone has a lot of explaining to do.

  • pointhimout

    sad sad story. I hate when freak accidents happen because there's never a sensible answer to bring resolve and closure for those affected. SR, I won't say no one can survive that type fall. Ciara pulls through, she has one heck of a testimony. Prayers and well wishes.

  • kharizmatik

    Wow, this is the kind of stuff that make you realize how short life really is :( RIP & prayers goes out to both families.

    Hope everyone have a safe & wonderful holiday.

  • pointhimout

    horrible story. i'm finally catching the story on the news. it wasn't until SR posted this that I knew about the tragedy. She appeared to have a full life from a loving family - a beautiful family. you can't help but help but have a heavy heart hearing this story. SR, why does the name ray hamilton sound so familiar? I saw him speaking and had to drop my head when he told the reported he tried to save her but it was too late cuz it happened so fast.

    RIP Lashawna.

  • http://vimeo.com/17630990 LaTechGrad02

    Praying for both families.

    I won't speculate on the thickness of the window pane but I do hope that safeguards are put into place to prevent another tragedy like this from happening.

  • Starr

    Wow...this is soo sad. Praying for both families.

  • http://sandrarose.com Sandra Rose

    pointhimout says:

    SR, why does the name ray hamilton sound so familiar?
    ______________

    He's a local club owner and party promoter. I used to shoot a lot of his parties back in the day. Click here ---> http://sandrarose.com/2007/12/pics-slim-112-listening-party-over-da-edge-1219/

  • Fayla

    man oh man..this is so tragic! Lord they were celebrating her life in one moment, mourning in the next. only 30 yrs old..my heart goes out to her fam & friends. Praying for a miracle that Ciara pulls thru. God is a miracle worker & nothing is impossible for Him. idk what kind of play fighting they were doing with enough force to fall through a window though & the hotel needs double reinforced windows & other measure to ensure this doesnt happen again.
    RIP Lashawna
    #heavyheart

  • pointhimout

    Sandra, I see you woke up in investigator mode this morning. Her mother lives in Cali. I couldn't tell if her dad and siblings are all in the A too.

    I saw this page on FB also. Now she seemed like a true model, and not just saying it like a lot of other ATL pretenders. That was a beautiful young lady. People were reporting Ciara was talking last night and is making improvements. That's a blessing health wise, but living with the thought of re-living that moment again and again, I wish that on no one. I've got so many questions that I'm sure I'll never have answered.

    The windows. I'm sure they'll get all into inspections, failed, passed and the last time the windows changed, or are these the same windows in place since the hotel was first built? probably so. This is something you'd have to ask about the many buildings that could have this issue. One leans against it and next thing you're falling out of it. I guess these type windows aren't designed or made to require preventative maintenance or replacing every 20 years. It's a horrible freak accident that results in a million questions and what if's that always go answered.

  • Fayla

    i cant get this story outta my head. all the high-rise hotels i've been in have thick windows. (dont ask me y, its just 1 of the things i check when i inspect a room) so this puzzles me. & the whole "play fighting" does 2 :shrug: *big sigh*

  • kingstonn

    omg, this why i'm scared chitless of heights now.
    rip lashawna. she was so beautiful... :(

  • WeezysBaby

    Soon as I read this I automatically thought about the fact the W just now replaced those windows that were blown out with the tornado we had here a few years back. It makes me wonder was she in one of those rooms where the window was recently replaced and they were of poor quality or maybe they were in an old room that just needed new windowns. Either way this is very heartbreaken and sad. You leave this world the same day that you were brought in just awful.

  • H-Townmama aka Blu’s Hunchmate and Cousin

    R.I.P. to Lashawna. My prayers are with the survivor and loved ones of both famililes. May peace and strength be given to all those affected, epecially Ciara and the witnesses.

    @Sandra
    Don't say what someone can't survive...almost 10 years ago my uncle was changing the lights on a tennis court and fell and survived. His memory was affected, but he is walking and talking on his own.

  • ELove

    Testing... 1 2 3 ...

  • ELove

    I read about his yesterday and it just sounds ALL KINDS of WRONG to Me...

    ME personally I couldn't get THAT DRUNK to FORGET that I'm on the 10th Floor... I ALSO heard that they NEVER CLOSED FOR BUSINESS during all of this (I Could Be Wrong Though...) :coffee:

  • http://sandrarose.com Sandra Rose

    @ pointhimout: I just found out that Lashawna was Ray Hamilton's girlfriend. He threw the birthday party for her and rented the hotel suite. He always goes all out like that for his lady. Wow. I feel so bad for him. :(

  • ELove

    Was Ray THE ONE who also told police they were Play-Wrestling or Play-Fighting ?!!? :coffee:

  • Yardgirl

    Dang, I wonder how the other yound lady is doing? So very tragic.

  • ELove

    ^^^
    I HEARD she's in critical condition with Multiple Broken Bones and other injuries...

  • Yardgirl

    ELove says:

    ^^^
    I HEARD she’s in critical condition with Multiple Broken Bones and other injuries…

    =======================================================

    Thank you! I wish her God Speed :pray:

  • pointhimout

    at Sanra, gotcha. I knew his name sounded familiar. He was on the news telling the reporter he couldn't save them cuz it happened so fast. Yeah I feel bad for him too.

  • pointhimout

    Please join us tonight (May 30, 2011) for a candlelight vigil at the W Hotel (Midtown) at 8 p.m. Bring a white candle to light in remembrance and prayer of our Angel. Tonight we will come together in the continuous celebration of LaShawna Threatt's life at the place that claimed her body but not her soul. She lives within each of us eternally because her love is the water that nurtures our seeds so that we can continue to grow. The MOST fabulous, beautiful and glamorous person you could ever come to know. So please share in our candlelight special and bare witness to an Angel that truly glows.

    R.I.P. Beautiful

  • pointhimout

    ^^^^^from FB.

  • Aprilbaby

    This story still doesn't sound right to me.

  • http://zeezyistall.blogspot.com zeezy4sheezy

    No disrespect to the dead & the injured young ladies but, this story is not passing the smell test for me.. 1st they were play-fighting then now the story is that they were hugging each other. Then the boyfriend goes on tv talking about he would have jumped out the window if it was daylight... GTHFOH!!! This story doesn't add up at all why is no one able to see these major inconsistencies... Those windows @ the W are split into 4 sections, how do they fall thru only one portion? I hope the APD does their due dilligence & investigate this more throughly

  • http://chokolatemilk.blogspot.com Choco aka Hippie

    This is sad yet bizarre news may she rest in peace...

  • speakinmymind

    zeezy4sheezy says:

    No disrespect to the dead & the injured young ladies but, this story is not passing the smell test for me.. 1st they were play-fighting then now the story is that they were hugging each other. Then the boyfriend goes on tv talking about he would have jumped out the window if it was daylight… GTHFOH!!! This story doesn’t add up at all why is no one able to see these major inconsistencies… Those windows @ the W are split into 4 sections, how do they fall thru only one portion? I hope the APD does their due dilligence & investigate this more throughly
    ------------------------------------------------
    that's the same thing i said when i saw this on the news yesterday...something in the milk ain't clean. at first the fiance gave an interview saying they weren't play fighting but hugging and fell through the window; then other people are saying they were play fighting. how could they only crack the glass roof they fell on over the 5th floor but fall completely through a window they were only leaning on up on the 10th floor?