Family and friends join together to remember the girls who were gunned down on a rural road exactly one year ago today.
Taylor Paschal-Placker and Skyla Whitaker were shot a total of 13 times outside of Weleetka, in Okfuskee County.
It happened less than a mile away from Taylor’s home.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford went to Weleetka for the girl’s vigil.
During a prayer vigil a local pastor performed a song written just for Skyla and Taylor, “I sat down yesterday and I was able to finish it today and this is for the honor of Skyla and Taylor.”
A song that many who didn’t know the girls learned they loved nature.
“Playing with turtles and frogs and horses and laughing at the boys.”
A night to remember one year ago a friend lost two friends. A principal lost two students, “People need closure, they need to know that our community is safe,” says Graham Elementary Principal Wanda Mankin.
And two fathers lost their daughters.
"It's a real blessing the way everyone around here has pulled together,” says Skyla’s father William Whitaker.
But even in a moment of prayer, a time to grieve, people still feel the killer or killers is amongst them
"You don't know if the killer is going to be in this auditorium or not,” says Mankin.
Pastor Steve Gniech of First Baptist Church in Weleetka says even with little answers, he's knows God is watching over Skyla and Taylor.
"There's always hope even in the darkest moments," says Gniech.
