Students, colleagues and loved ones gathered Saturday at Hillside High School in Durham to remember Sheremy Dillard, a longtime basketball coach and teacher in the Triangle.
Dillard once attended Hillside High, where she later went on to coach girl's basketball. She later worked in Durham, Carrboro-Chapel Hill and, most recently, Wake County Public Schools.
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Police say Dillard was stabbed to death earlier this month inside her Raleigh home. Her boyfriend, Rickey Harper, is charged with first-degree murder.
People who knew Dillard were shocked when they learned of her death.
This is just so unfair. How could somebody do this? She was just such a beautiful person,” recounted Alyssa Tatum, a former student athlete of Dillard.
Media members were not invited inside Saturday’s celebration of life out of respect for those attending, but people who knew Dillard have described her to WRAL as a mentor, a fierce leader and a coach who had a lasting impact on young women throughout the Triangle.
“She always spoke life into you. She believed in you even when you didn’t believe in yourself," said Jameeah Purefoy-Thaxton, a former player under Dillard's coaching.
That sentiment was echoed during Saturday’s service.
“The way she worked, the way she served, the way she kept her word and the way she showed up for others gave people strength, something worth following,” a longtime friend said during the ceremony.
Harper appeared before a judge in Raleigh for the first time on Friday, where he opted for a judge to appoint a public defender. He is being held without bond at the Wake County Detention Center.