COLUMBIA, S.C. — A sea of orange filled Keenan Stadium Wednesday morning as Eau Claire High School seniors graduated.
Two seats, however, were noticeable empty. One was reserved for 18-year-old Sha'Neal Brown and another for 17-year-old Bertrand "Troy" Ganaway III, whose lives were cut short in recent weeks due to violence.
On the students' gowns were tributes to their lost classmates -- one green ribbon in honor of Brown and one white ribbon in honor of Ganaway.
"Their loss was devastating and has left us all with a hole in our hearts that will surely take some time to fill," said Eau Claire Principal Neshunda Walters at Wednesday's graduation.
One-by-one, seniors names were read aloud, including Brown and Ganaway's, which resulted in an eruption of cheers and clapping.
Jada Teasley and Khamiyah Smalls were close with Brown and called their graduation bittersweet.
“She's been waiting for this day," Teasley said. "She was the only one out of all of her siblings to graduate high school ... this moment for her would have been like none other.”
They said a day normally filled with happiness and celebrations has been shadowed by mourning. Still, Teasley and Smalls walked the stage with their heads held high.
“We did it for her. She did it, she did it," they said.
Teasley said she and Brown would have attended Morris College together in the fall. “Everything we accomplish, she’s a part of it,” Smalls said.
Teasley and Smalls said the two tragedies have brought the class closer together and taught them lessons many don't learn at 18 years old.
"They made us so much closer than ever. We enjoy so much more time with each other now," said Smalls. "When we leave each other, it's 'I love you and be safe' and we always try to make sure the moments we have together are genuine."
As the Eau Claire Class of 2022 enters a new chapter in their life, they hold onto one motto: "Sha’neal used to always say once a shamrock, always a shamrock," said Smalls.
According to investigators, Brown and her 83-year-old grandmother, Jessie, were killed by Brown’s father Rafael earlier this month.
According to the Richland County coroner's office, 17-year-old Bertrand T. Ganaway III of Columbia was shot and killed in a shooting in the 300 block of Saddletrail Road around 5 p.m. May 22.