Daughters of Charleston church shooting victim bring mother's memories to Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On June 15, 2015, the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor was one of nine members who were shot and killed by a white supremacist at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

In the wake of that tragedy, her four daughters moved to Charlotte to live with their aunt.

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The youngest daughters, Hali Doctor, a junior, and Czana Doctor, are students at Mallard Creek High School.

Hali plays on the Mavericks’ girls’ basketball team, which played at Butler High School on Thursday.

Butler was recently dealt with tragedy of its own. It has been a month since Bobby McKeithen was shot by classmate Jatwan Cuffie in the school’s hallway. McKeithen later died in the hospital.

Within Thursday’s basketball game are two stories of moving on from tragedy.

Hali and Czana told Channel 9 that they carry their mother’s memory with them every moment.

DePayne Middleton-Doctor, who had four children, was killed when Dylann Roof open fired at parishioners during Bible study.

“First thing that comes to my mind is singing,” Hali said. “That’s when I wasn't into sports, kindergarten to fifth grade, that’s all I did. I was in the church with her. That's how I connect with her and that’s what I'll always think of when I think of her.”

“I don't remember that much about her voice, but if I ever want to hear her sing, I can always go on YouTube and find it, and I like that because she really did have a pretty voice,” Czana said.

Hali was only 13 years old when her mother was killed and Czana was just 10.

“Always DePayne and her girls. That’s what it was,” Hali said.

The sisters say they lean on each other more than ever since their mother was killed in that act of hate.

“We're only two years apart, so I feel like we would automatically be closer anyways because we're close in age,” Czana said.

In the past three and a half years, Hali and Czana made the transition to Charlotte.

Czana is just starting her junior season in basketball, while Czana just finished her first junior varsity season in volleyball.

“The move for me is pretty chaotic,” Hali said. “Everything happened so fast. It was like in the middle of summer knowing that my aunt and my mom were so close, they were like best friends, so knowing our families are so close to each other, I felt really good about that.”

The pain is still there for the sisters, and for Czana, who was too young to process her emotions at the time, the pain evolves.

“I feel angry about it, like really angry, more than sadness, because that was literally my, I wouldn't say my everything, my sisters too, but that was my mom,” Czana said. “I really do feel more angry than I do feel sad.”

Hali said she's still in denial, thinking of her mother as simply away on a trip and waiting for Hali to join her.

“With me, I’m not really an angry person,” Hali said. “I thought I'd be angry about what happened, but I don't really have anger toward it. I was confused for a while, but now my emotions would have to be just hurt and confused on why it happened.”

The passage of time hasn’t made things any clearer.

“Every time I see something, like with somebody getting shot because of something racial, it really makes me upset because this shouldn't be happening,” Czana said. “It’s not OK and it just brings me back to that time.”

Hali and Czana said they are spending their lives dedicating it to their mother.

“When I was younger, I didn't pray that much. I didn't wear earrings. I was just like, ‘I don't care how I look and my mom hated that,” Hali said. “I wear them now. It feels silly, that’s how I honor her. I wear earrings and I pray every day and every night even during school because she was really hard on those things.”

“I think she would be proud of me because we all knew that I feel like she somewhat knew my sisters knew I'd end up playing volleyball,” Czana said. “I think she'd be more proud that I'm still dancing though and I think she would be proud of me overall because of where I'm at.”

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