10 years later: Why Chris Singleton forgave his mother’s racist killer

Chris Singleton received a phone call 10 years ago about 9 p.m., just after he got home from playing in a summer baseball game.

That call changed his life.

It was from Felicia Sanders, a friend from church. She told him he needed to come down to the church because something “really bad” happened.

“At 18, that’s when I figured out that the worst day of my life was about to happen,” Singleton recently said. “That was 10 years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.”

By June 2015, Singleton wrapped up his freshman season as an outfielder for Charleston Southern University’s men’s baseball team. His first collegiate season was impressive for the quick outfielder who made big-time plays and hit sixth overall in the lineup. His summer seemed as if it was going to be baseball-focused until the phone call that changed everything.

June 16 marks the 10-year anniversary of Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old self-proclaimed White supremacist, opening fire on a room full of people praying because of the color of their skin.
It was a massacre. Nine worshippers died at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston including Singleton’s mother, The Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton. Sanders, who phoned Singleton that night, was one of five survivors of the shooting.

The oldest of three, Singleton, who now lives in North Charleston, has always carried a significant amount of responsibility for looking after his younger brother, Caleb, and sister, Camryn. In 2015, Caleb was 12 and Camryn was 15.

That fateful night

On the night of the tragedy, Camryn said she was the first to feel something was wrong. She started to worry after babysitting because her mom hadn’t come home and was not answering phone calls. That night, her mom had work, then Bible study and would have answered her calls if everything was OK.

When her big brother got home, he got the call to go to the church and immediately left.

As the night went on, the families of those who died went to the Embassy Suites on Meeting Street as police investigated and identified the nine who perished. Singleton, with the help of Sanders, told his younger siblings their mom had been killed in the shooting.

Life unfolded. Camryn noted she and her brothers were in transformative years of their lives, but stuck together. She graduated in 2022 from Claflin University in Orangeburg. About a year after their mother’s death, the children’s father passed away, leading the three Singleton siblings to grow closer.

“My mom always taught us to be very close with each other, protect each other,” said Camryn. “So I think that kind of kicked into overdrive.”

Forgiveness for a killer

Chris Singleton is known as the first family member of one of the Emanuel Nine victims to have forgiven Roof, the racist caught within a day of the shooting on Calhoun Street.

He did that publicly only 24 hours after the murders, shocking many, including his siblings. But forgiveness also came soon from members of other families at a bond hearing seen around the world.

“People would say, ‘Man, Chris, you know, you let him off the hook by forgiving him?’ ” he recalled. “I used to hear some things said of that nature, until they realize the work that I do every single day. I truly do care about putting an end to racism, and I don’t know if that’ll ever, ever happen, but I’ll try. I promised my church family, I’ll try.”

While Singleton forgave the killer pretty quickly, it wasn’t as easy for his sister.

“I was taken aback, but it set the tone and forced me to forgive because if we started with hate and didn’t lead with love, then hate would have just spread,” she said. “Chris has been a rock. He has been somebody who’s always been stable, steady, and always going to be there for me.”
While Singleton said he felt the grief, he said he also didn’t show it or talk about it the same way others did.

“I didn’t really talk about the pain I was going through,” he said. “I talked about forgiving my mother’s killer. I talked about the pain that I knew I could get through.”

Finding faith

As a boy, Singleton said he attended church because he was told to. He was a believer because he was supposed to be. It was not until after his mom died that he started to strengthen his relationship with God. Through prayers and readings, he said his faith began to grow.

“I do think that my faith has grown after what happened to me, which is crazy, because when most people have their mom killed in church, they don’t have any more faith after that,” Singleton said. “And mine was the opposite. It’s strange, but I knew that I couldn’t do things by myself.”

He explained he never expected to forgive Roof, who he never mentioned by name during an interview at a North Charleston restaurant.

“I would have never thought in a million years I would do that, because why would I? After she was killed because she’s Black. The fact that I did it let me know that it wasn’t just me that was forgiving. It was something out of this world.”

Singleton said forgiveness gave him control of his life.

“I don’t have to think about him all the time,” he said. “I don’t have to think about what he did to my mom all the time. I don’t have to think about where he is. You know all those things, and forgiveness freed me from that stuff.”

Singleton emphasized his act of forgiveness wasn’t a coping mechanism to forget.

“I want people to know that when you forgive someone, it doesn’t mean I ever want this man to walk free,” he said. “Some people think, ‘Oh, Chris, you forgive your mother’s killer. Man, you’re better than me. I would want that guy to rot forever,’ and I do, right?

“I don’t want him to ever see the light of day. It doesn’t mean that I can’t forgive him or move forward in my life, and that’s what I’ve done. I wouldn’t be able to talk about it if I hadn’t forgiven him, I wouldn’t be able to do the work that I do across the country if I hadn’t forgiven him. So all those things played into a role, but I didn’t know that at the time.”

One of Singleton’s biggest fears is that people will forget about the lives lost at Emanuel A.M.E. He promised his mom and his church family that he would try to keep their names and legacies alive.

Singleton described his mother, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, as athletic, competitive and smart. Her dissertation was finished when she died. She gave back to the community and guided youths, serving as a track coach, children’s church pastor and ordained minister. A big hugger, she would kiss people on the cheek — no matter if she knew them for 10 minutes or 10 years.

“What can I do to keep them alive even though they’re not here in the flesh anymore?” he asked. “It’s telling people about Tywanza Sanders and how awesome he was. It’s telling people about Miss Susie [Jackson]. It’s telling people about my mom, telling people about everybody whose lives were lost.

“So I want people to remember them and say, ‘Man, even though they’re not here anymore, they helped our state, they helped our country, they definitely helped our city.’ I don’t want that to be lost in all the madness that came with what happened.”

The future

Singleton’s experiences over the last 10 years led him to become an inspirational speaker and author. He travels 100 days a year to teach about the power of love and resilience. He reminds people that it’s OK to disagree, but everyone deserves love and respect, regardless of race, appearance or first language.

“This is home. I don’t want to move away,” said Singleton, who is raising three children with his wife. “I owe it to this city to pour into it like it poured into me when I needed it most. So that’s why I’ll be here.”

On June 17, Singleton will release his new children’s book, Love Your Neighbor, as a way to honor the 10 years. He said he wants to put an end to racism and spread love — the theme of the book.

Remembering the Emanuel Nine

By Damian Bertrand
People across Charleston and the nation will pause June 17 to remember the nine worshippers who died on that evening 10 years ago in a massacre at Emanuel A.M.E. Church on Calhoun Street. Those who lost their lives during a Wednesday Bible study were (in alphabetical order):

The Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Cynthia Graham Hurd
Ethel Lee Lance
Susie Jackson
The Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
S.C. Sen. and The Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Tywanza Sanders
The Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Myra Thompson

Community events planned

Remembrance and memorial events across the area include:

June 17, 11 a.m.: Emanuel Nine Day of Observance, an ecumenical service at Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St.
June 17, 8:30 p.m.: Unofficial annual remembrance gathering that marks the time of the shooting, Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St. Non-permitted event.
June 18, 5:30 p.m.: Tables of Ten Bible study, Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St.
June 19, 6:30 p.m.: CommUNITY mental health discussion, Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St.
June 19, 8 p.m.: Healing with Grace, a one-hour television show of stories related to the tragedy. To be aired statewide on SCETV.
June 20, 6:30 p.m.: Acts of Amazing Grace Day, CommUNITY Dinner by Transformation Table, Joseph Fields Farm, 3129 River Road, Johns Island.
June 21, 11 a.m.: Cynthia Graham Hurd Community Day, Cynthia Graham Hurd/St. Andrew’s Library, 1735 N. Woodmere Drive, West Ashley.
June 21, 6:30 p.m.: Humanitarian Awards Gala, The College Center, Trident Technical College, 7000 Rivers Ave., North Charleston.
June 22, 10 a.m.: AME Day of Remembrance, Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St.
June 22, 6:30 p.m.: Morning Grace Gospel Concert, Sottile Theatre, 44 George St.
June 28, 12 p.m.: Unity in the CommUNITY Fair, International African American Museum, 14 Wharfside St.