Maya Alexis Cheriee Hixon, named by her mother after the poet Maya Angelou, unexpectedly, along with her unborn baby, tookher last breath late in the midnight hour on Thursday November 21, 2024.

Maya, the daughter of Gavita W. Durham & Derek Hixon, took her first breath Tuesday March 30, 1999, at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA.

Maya attended primary school at St. Agnes in Oakland before graduating from Oakland Catholic High School in 2017.

Maya was involved in various community activities in & out of school at an early age including Visionary Performing Arts Academy where she learned tap dancing, Crossroads Foundation, Girl Scouts, Volleyball, Girls on the Run and she was a contestant in the Miss Ebony Teenage Pageant.

Maya enjoyed good food, especially lasagna & buffalo chicken dip. She loved watching Family Guy, Modern Family & SpongeBob. Her favorite album is the Cheetah Girls! Maya loved to play video games, sing and dance. She had a very soft, calm voice. Maya was very devoted to her sister Zuri. They enjoyed movies together, arcades and hibachi.

Maya continued her post-secondary education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania before transferring to Cleveland State University and completing her undergrad in Criminology in 2022, Esquire in view, following in her mother's footsteps.

Maya had been accepted to Cleveland State University's School of Law but declined because she wanted to be closer to her sister, Zuri. She was applying to other law schools in the area to continue her loyalty to her sister.

Maya was predeceased by her devoted mother, Gavita Wylene Durham; maternal great grandparents Yance Lowe & Gladys James; paternal great grandparents Willie Durham & Mildred Gilbert Patterson; paternal grandparents Willie & Marion Hixon; great-great grandfather Charlie James; great-great aunts Mozelle Ellis, Elizabeth Healey, Sarah Fisher, Dorothy Rivers; great-great uncles Rodney Jamison, Willie Durham Jr., Ernest Durham; Bubba & Allen; and on December 3, 2024, her brother Derek Burroughs.

Left with memories of Maya are her father, Derek; devoted grandparents Barbara & Greg Hill, George Durham; sisters Zuri Smith, Kaneria Crisden, Kaliyah Hixon, Akirah Hixon; brother Javon Laprade; aunts Torri Durham-Flannigan & Ranessa Durham; uncle Jasmin Durham; great-aunts Carol Kimbrough, Jackie Jamison (Edward Eberhardt) & Stephanie Miller; great-uncle Reverend Daniel Jamison; devoted cousin, Logan Cole; devoted fur baby, Mitch and a host of other family and friends including LesMarie Singleton, Tzion Eley & Emoni Johnson.

Maya will live on in the hearts of those who love her. We will miss her bright smile and her infectious laugh. Maya's inspiring spirit, fierce personality and passion for life will be remembered by those who know and love her.