Makayla Ward may be small-in-stature on NBC’s hit cop drama “Chicago P.D.,” but she looms large in one of the more personal and emotional narrative arcs on the long-running hit. Beginning in Season 8, Makayla is the focus of efforts by Intel Unit Officer Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) to adopt the young girl following the murder of her mother and grandparents, a crime for which her biological father will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Across multiple episodes of this popular “One Chicago” series, Burgess’ ongoing struggle to adopt Makayla is a heart-tugging throughline on the show. Kim’s loyal ally in her campaign to give the traumatized little girl a loving and stable family life is her colleague and on-again-off-again romantic partner, I.U. officer Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger). As this storyline plays out, we see both Burgess and Ruzek do whatever than can to convince the child welfare system (and at times themselves) that they can provide an acceptable place for Makayla to call home. And while Kim does eventually gain custody of the child, who then becomes Makayla Ward Burgess, the poor kid must endure a kidnapping before being dramatically rescued. In the end, all of the above contributes to Burgess reluctantly agreeing the girl should go to live with her blood relative, uncle Theo Morris (Derek Webster). After playing such a central and eventful role in “Chicago P.D.,” fans may be interested to find out more about the young actor who brings Makayla Ward to life.
Chicago P.D.’s Makayla Ward is played by Ramona Edith Williams
Making her debut appearance on “Chicago P.D.” in the Season 8 episode “Tender Age,” young actor Ramona Edith Williams goes on to portray Makayla Ward through the Season 9 installment “You and Me.” In total, Williams portrays the character in a total of 13 episodes between 2021 and 2023.
As it turns out, Ramona can also be seen in roles beyond her work on “Chicago P.D.” In 2019, Williams took on the part of Frances, a six-year-old who befriends a troubled nanny in the feature film “Saint Frances.” Two years later, she portrayed Maggie Dyer, who helps a pair of Chicago executives discover the true reason for the season in the movie “The Christmas Pitch.” Williams followed those roles in 2022 with one-off appearances in the TV series “61st Street” and the short film “My Summer Vacation.” Fans eager to know more about the actor can drop by her Instagram page, where Williams notes that she’s a proud African American/Afro-Latina/Louisiana Creole and lists her three main interests as God, family, and skating.
