Chris Singleton—a college student who lost his mother, the Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, in the Charleston, S.C., church massacre Wednesday—admitted that his knees were a little weak during a press conference Thursday, but he vowed to push on because his mom "was a God-fearing woman."
"We are mourning right now, but I know we'll get through it," Chris Singleton said. The Rev. Coleman-Singleton, 45, coached the girls track team at a local high school and was a speech therapist and the mother of three.
Singleton also said that he forgave the gunman who carried out the attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church that claimed nine lives.
"We forgive; that's one thing we are going to do," Singleton told NBC station WCBD.
"[My mom] loved everybody with all her heart. … Love is always stronger than hate. So if we just loved the way my mom would, then the hate won't be anywhere close to what love is," he said at the press conference.
"She's the best mom I could even ever ask for. Honestly, it's going to be tough, but I know we will get through it as a family," he told WCBD.
Read more at NBC News.