Sharonda A. Coleman-Singleton, a 45-year-old African American woman, was a revered pastor, dedicated speech pathologist, and beloved high school track coach whose life was tragically cut short on the evening of June 17, 2015. On that fateful Wednesday, she was gathered with eleven other individuals for a bible study at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
The sacredness of the occasion was shattered when a young white man, who had been welcomed into their midst, opened fire on the group, ending the lives of nine innocent people.
The perpetrator of this horrific act of racial violence was identified as 21-year-old Dylann Storm Roof. He had specifically targeted the church, a pillar of the Black community, with the malevolent hope of igniting a race war. After sitting with the bible study group for about an hour, Roof brandished a. 45-caliber handgun and began his deadly assault. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, along with eight others, perished in the hail of bullets. The victims, all African American, included the church's senior pastor and state senator, Clementa C. Pinckney.
Following the massacre, a massive manhunt for the gunman ensued. The day after the shooting, Dylann Roof was apprehended in Shelby, North Carolina, after a citizen recognized his vehicle and alerted the authorities. In his confession, Roof admitted his racist motivations for the attack. The nation was left to grapple with the profound loss and the deep-seated hatred that had fueled such a devastating act of domestic terrorism.
The legal proceedings against Dylann Roof brought his hate-filled ideology into stark relief. He was tried in federal court on 33 counts, including hate crimes resulting in death. In December 2016, a jury found him guilty on all charges. The following month, that same jury sentenced him to death. In addition to the federal case, Roof faced state charges. To avoid a second death penalty, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of murder in state court in April 2017 and was sentenced to nine consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
