On the evening of June 17, 2015, 74-year-old Reverend Daniel Lee Simmons Sr. attended Wednesday night Bible study at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina. A retired pastor and fourth-generation preacher who had led several congregations and served in the United States Army, Simmons was a familiar presence on the church’s ministerial staff.

A young white man sat with the group for nearly an hour before producing a firearm and opening fire. Reverend Simmons was among nine parishioners mortally wounded; he was the only victim taken from the church to a nearby hospital, where he died. Reports say he was shot while tending to the church’s pastor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney.

The suspect was arrested the next day in Shelby, North Carolina, and returned to South Carolina. A federal jury later convicted the suspect on charges including hate crimes resulting in death and imposed a death sentence; a separate state proceeding produced guilty pleas to nine counts of murder and nine consecutive life sentences without parole.

Did anyone who attended Emanuel A.M.E. in 2015 or knew Reverend Simmons have memories or details to share about him or that night?