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 June 17, 2015, in Charleston. 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 said, 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 gray or cake on the makeup.

A picture of Sharonda Coleman-Singleton sits on a large paper signed by students, teachers and friends June 18, 2015, at Goose Creek High School, where she was a speech pathologist and girls track coach, in Goose Creek, South Carolina.Jeffrey Collins ~ Associated Press, file

On the night of the shooting, Quarles said she woke suddenly after a dream about watching her mother drown and hearing a voice saying her mother was gone. Quarles picked up her phone, checked Facebook and learned of the shooting -- and her mother's likely fate.

"I just feel like that was God who spoke to me," she said. "That's why I know where my mom is. She's in heaven, with everybody else. She's fine."

'Daddy's dead?'

Jennifer Pinckney huddled under a desk with her 6-year-old daughter, her hand clasped over the girl's mouth to keep her quiet, as Roof opened fire.

Not knowing for certain whether the danger had passed, Pinckney dialed 911 and breathlessly told an operator she had heard shots inside the church.

"I think there's been a shooting. I'm in the closet, under a desk," Pinckney told the operator. "Please hurry."

On the call, Pinckney tries to comfort her daughter Malana, who had been watching cartoons in her father's office as he participated in Bible study.

"Daddy's dead?" Malana said.

"No, baby, no," the mother said. But at that moment, Pinckney said she knew her husband, church pastor Clementa Pinckney, had been killed.

A future in the church

The Rev. Anthony Thompson said his wife, Myra, was a dedicated person of faith who did her best to enjoy life.

Thompson cried as he described a conversation with his wife about their future plans to move and pursue studies and careers in the church.

"She was my world, and she was gone," he said. "I'm just glad to know she's somewhere ... where somebody can take care of her better than I ever could."

Devoted friend

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was a high-school track coach. But the ministry was her calling. She was able to relate to a room full of people as if they were talking one-on-one.

"She wanted to teach you," friend Rita Whidbee said.

Coleman-Singleton's daughter told jurors her mother would pray over her children before they went to sleep.

"Before, I went to her with all my problems, and now I go to God," Cam'Ryne Singleton said.

An angel

Bethane Middleton described her sister, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, as a tender woman who took care of her. She had a beautiful voice.

"I consider her a borrowed angel," Middleton said.

The open road

Daniel "Dapper Dan" Simmons, 74, was so nicknamed for his shiny shoes and fine hats. His son, Dan Simmons Jr. said his father adored his grandchildren and spoke with them often, always willing to travel wherever was necessary to spend time with people he loved.

One of the first black drivers hired by Greyhound, Simmons loved to drive, up until the day of his death, his son said.

"He just loved everything about life," Simmons said.

Other victims

Cynthia Hurd, 54, was a librarian. Ethel Lance, 70, was the church sexton who kept the bathrooms and building immaculate.

Susie Jackson, 87, sang in the church choir, and Tywanza Sanders, 26, was Jackson's nephew and an aspiring poet.