A premonition, a dream: Church slaying victims remembered
CHARLESTON, S.C. — One by one, friends and family members walked up to the witness stand and testified about the nine black church members gunned down during a Bible study in Charleston on June 17, 2015. They described personalities, future plans and final conversations.
The testimony came during the sentencing phase of Dylann Roof’s death penalty trial. The same jury that convicted the 22-year-old white man of hate crimes and other charges will decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or death. Here are highlights from the testimony Wednesday and Thursday.
A PREMONITION AND A DREAM
Myra Thompson seemed to know something would happen to her. A month before the shootings, daughter Denise Quarles says her mother talked about being confident she’d raised her children with strong morals that would serve them after her death. She also made it clear what she wanted, and didn’t want, for her funeral: Use red nail polish and don’t let the funeral home dye her hair grey or cake-on the makeup.