THE VICTIMS
Victims include an activist pastor and an 87-yr.-old granny
THEY WERE nine devout Christians drawn by their faith to the historic African-American church for a Bible study class — unaware there was a serpent in their midst.
Their leader was a pastor blessed with a Barry White voice who served both his Charleston church and the state of South Carolina.
With him at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church were mothers and fellow ministers, a barber and a librarian, a speech therapist and a community development director whose four daughters sang in the church choir.
They were young and old, ranging in age from 26 to 87. And as they studied and debated the scriptures, they did not detect the danger in the thin white man with the bowl haircut, who was sitting quietly on one of the chairs, until it was too late.
But when Dylann Roof was done shooting, police said, the church basement had been transformed into a slaughterhouse. And nine innocent churchgoers had become the victims of his racist madness. These are their stories:
Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41 Pinckney, the church pastor and a long-serving Democratic state senator from nearby Jasper County, was remembered as both a good shepherd to his flock — and a statesman who worked tirelessly for his constituents.
“He never had anything bad to say about anybody, even when I thought he should,” Statehouse Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, a Democrat, told The Associated Press.
Pinckney’s Republican rivals also chimed in with praise.
“He was the most kind, gentle man in the Senate, and I am not just saying that now,” GOP state Sen. Katrina Shealy told The State newspaper in Columbia. “He was quiet . . . until he spoke with that beautiful Barry White voice.”
A married father of two, Pinckney was born in Beaufort, S.C. In the aftermath of the videotaped killing of a black man named Walter Scott by a white cop, he pushed a bill requiring that all South Carolina police officers be equipped with body cameras.
“He was a remarkable young man,” said former Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young, who was baptized in Pinckney’s church and knew him. “He was a great servant of the people, from the pulpit and in the Legislature.”
Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45
Coleman-Singleton was a jack of all trades.
A mother of three, reverend and track coach, Coleman-Singleton was also a highly respected high school speech therapist.
“She always had a smile for everyone and she cared about all the kids,” former Goose Creek High School teacher Sandy Tillman told the Daily News.
A native of Newark, N.J., Coleman-Singleton’s family members bared their pain on social media.
“My life has truly changed,” wrote her sister, Shalisa Coleman.
Cynthia Hurd, 54 Hurd worked for 31 years at the Charleston County Public Library, where she was known as diligent and deeply committed to her job.
Reached by The News, some longtime co-workers were still too devastated to speak.
“It’s just so shocking,” said Patrice Smith, her voice breaking.
The library released a statement honoring Hurd, who was the sister of former North Carolina state Sen. Malcolm Graham.
“Cynthia was a tireless servant of the community who spent her life helping residents, making sure they had every opportunity for an
education and personal growth,” it read.
Tywanza Sanders, 26
Sanders was a barber with big dreams and a beaming smile.
“You would never forget that big ol’ smile that he always had on his face,” close friend Michele Gray told the local NBC affiliate. “Just to think I’ll never see that smile again in person is very heartbreaking.”
Sanders graduated from Allen University in 2014 with a business degree and was working at the Against Da Grain Barber shop with his brother.
Ethel Lance, 70
Lance was the sexton at Emanuel AME Church for more than 30 years.
“Granny was the heart of the family,” her grandson, Jon Quil Lance, told The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston. “I could call my granny for anything.”
Susie Jackson, 87
Jackson, a cousin of Lance, was also a longtime member of the church.
“It’s hard to process that my grandma had to leave Earth this way,” her grandson Tim Jackson told an ABC affiliate in Cleveland.
“It just hurts. It hurts to process,” he said. “Being at this church this late for Bible study, it just showed her commitment.”
Rev. Daniel Simmons, 74
A retired pastor, Simmons was a longtime administrator at the Emanuel AME Church.
“He definitely was a wonderful person,” his daughter-in-law Arcelia Simmons told The News. “He really loved to serve the Lord. He loved the AME church and everything about it.”
Myra Thompson, 59
Thompson was the wife of the Rev. Anthony Thompson, who is vicar of Holy Trinity REC Church in Charleston. She was studying to be a minister.
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49
It was Middleton-Doctor’s daughters who sang in the church choir. She was a former manager at the U.S. Department of Commerce and a former Charleston County community development director, according to her LinkedIn profile.