Emanuel AME Pastor Clementa Pinckney, 41, had been preaching at the church since he was 13, and he became an appointed minister at the age of 18. At the age of 23, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives.
In recent months, he had been outspoken in the Black Lives Matter movement, co-sponsoring a bill that would require state police officers to wear body cameras. In April, he held a vigil for slain Charleston man Walter Scott. “He never had anything bad to say about anybody,” South Carolina House Minority leader Todd Rutherford told the Associated Press. “He was always out doing work either for his parishioners or his constituents. He touched everybody.”
Pinckney is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, Eliana and Malana.
Sharonda Singleton was a reverend at Emanuel AME, as well as a track coach at Goose Creek High School. “As a teacher and a coach, she was very professional in everything she did,” former high school athletic director told The Post and Courier. “She was an excellent role model for all of our students in the way she carried herself. She was just first class.” She is survived by her husband, Christopher, and her son, Chris, a baseball player at the same high school.
Tywanza Sanders, 26, had recently graduated from Allen State University—Rev. Clementa Pinckney’s alma mater—with a degree in business administration. Allen University officials released a statement remembering him as a “quiet, well-known student. He presented a warm and helpful spirit as he interacted with his colleagues.”
Susie Jackson, 87, was a long-time member of Emanuel AME. Her cousin, Ethel Lee Lance, was also a victim.
DePayne Doctor, 49, was an enrollment counselor at Southern Weleyan University’s Charleston Campus, a member of the church and a mother of four daughters.
A branch manager at St. Andrews Regional Library, 54-year-old Cynthia Hurd worked with the Charleston Public Libraries for more than 30 years. The city closed its branches today in her honor. “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,” library officials said in a statement.
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons, Sr. was a retired pastor in Charleston who would faithfully attend the Sunday morning and Wednesday night services at Emanuel AME Church.
Pictured: Mourners at a prayer vigil at Morris Brown AME in Charleston
Myra Thompson, 59, was a pastor and bible study teacher at Emanuel AME. Thompson was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, according to a local chapter president.
Pictured: Mourners at a prayer vigil at Morris Brown AME in Charleston
Emanuel AME sexton Ethel Lee Lance, 70, had worked for the church for more than 30 years. “Granny was the heart of the family,” her grandson Jon Quil Lance said to The Post and Courier. “She’s a Christian, hardworking. I could call my granny for anything.”
Pictured: Mourners at a prayer vigil at Morris Brown AME in Charleston
