One Year Later, Family Still Seeking Answers in Death of Alabama State University Student
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — Monday marks one year since 21-year-old Tiana Dye was stabbed to death in a home she shared with other Alabama State University students.
Family and friends gathered at Dye’s graveside in Georgia to honor her memory, but her mother says the grief is compounded by frustration and unanswered questions.
“It’s every holiday being the first without her. Mother’s Day was one of the worst days for me,” Danielle Luckett, Dye’s mother, said Tuesday. “I woke up in tears and went to sleep in tears looking at pictures of my daughter, knowing she wasn’t going to be here with me.”
No arrests have been made in the case, which remains classified as a death investigation. A grand jury will determine whether Dye’s roommate — who allegedly stabbed her — acted in self-defense or will face charges.
However, Luckett says she has seen no signs of progress. She says she has sent letters and flash drives containing evidence to the Montgomery Police Department and at least four other local and state agencies but has not received a response.
“Making phone calls and being told, ‘Oh, we don’t have the case yet.’ MPD not even answering,” Luckett said. “So that round of formal letters went out and still no response, even though each and every one of them had a flash drive with all of the same evidence on it. Which says to me, you don’t care. There’s no way you could see all of that evidence and not start asking questions.”
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has not yet received the case file from MPD, despite the year that has passed since Dye’s death.
Dye, who would have turned 22 last month, was an honor student majoring in biochemistry at Alabama State University. She hoped to become a doctor.
“Inaction is not acceptable. And ignoring the death of a 21-year-old Black woman will never be okay—not under my watch, and not with this community standing beside me. We are not going away. We are not giving up. And if a second round of respectful correspondence continues to be ignored, we will move forward with peaceful protest. We will stand, legally and firmly, outside the offices and agencies that have failed to act. We will make ourselves seen, heard, and impossible to ignore. This isn’t just about my beautiful Tiana—this is about every family that’s ever been silenced, overlooked, or disregarded when they needed justice the most. I refuse to let Tiana become just another case, just another name in a forgotten file. Her life mattered. Her future mattered. And her death demands justice,” said Luckett.
WAKA has reached out to the Montgomery Police Department for an update on the investigation and is awaiting a response.
