Local

'I miss you more than words': Mother reflects 1 year after daughter killed at Peach Stand

FORT MILL, S.C. — One year ago, Karson Whitesell was shot and killed while working her shift at the Peach Stand in Fort Mill.

The community gathered Wednesday evening for prayer and to honor the teen who died when Christopher Mendez walked into the shop and opened fire.

Whitesell was shot several times.

Debbie Harrison, Whitesell’s mother, has been trying to keep her daughter's passion and memory alive.

Friends and family put on a prayer night in Whitesell’s honor at Illumine Church, which she attended.

“We’ve suffered a year without her, but she’s had the most glorious year ever,” Harrison said. “I wonder, when you go to heaven, is she celebrating today?”

Harrison said she looks at Wednesday as a “one-year milestone” of her daughter’s life ending on Earth and beginning in heaven.

She also started a nonprofit called Karson's Kompassion in her daughter's honor.

Whitesell had a passion for helping others and traveled to South Africa on mission trips.

Past coverage:

Harrison writes her daughter letters as a way to help her cope.

“I am so proud to be your mom,” a letter reads. “It’s so hard sometimes to really believe it’s been a year since you’ve moved on to heaven. I can’t wait until we can be reunited. I miss you more than words."

In December, Mendez pleaded guilty to Whitesell’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Police said Mendez and Whitesell were strangers when Mendez walked into the Peach Stand in Fort Mill. He told police Whitesell gave him an unkind look.

“I’m not sure there’s ever any way to get justice for an innocent life, but all I’ve asked all year long is for him to never hurt anyone again and for him to show remorse, and I feel like I got both of those things that day,” Harrison said. “I think that’s the closest thing I can ask for.”

In court, Harrison even embraced the mother of her daughter’s killer.

“It wasn’t optional that I went to talk to her,” Harrison said. “I felt pulled and the need to talk to her.”

She said grace and forgiveness have been essential in her healing process.

“I know she didn’t raise him to be an evil boy,” Harrison said. “I told her it wasn’t her actions and I didn’t blame her and that I pray for her every day. She told me that she prays for me and that she’s so sorry.”

Officials said seven months before the shooting, Mendez told doctors he had thoughts about killing himself and others.

Officials also said Mendez was able to buy a gun because he voluntarily went to the hospital rather than getting committed to a mental institution.

“You kind of have two paths, a path of choosing to blame God and walk away from faith or to lean into it, and I chose to lean into it. I can’t imagine it any other way,” Harrison said.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

Cox Media Group

Most Read