Graduation was bittersweet last week in Dadeville.

In the community still reeling from a mass shooting six weeks ago, there were reminders of the two seniors who weren’t there.

The April 15 shooting at a Dadeville dance hall claimed the lives of Phil Dowdell, 18, Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17, as well as Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23.

NBC News reported that at last Thursday’s graduation, the entire class wore custom shawls and buttons memorializing Dowdell and Smith, whose parents joined the graduation procession, wearing caps and gowns.

The two victim’s senior headshots were placed in the seats they would have occupied. Smith planned to attend UAB to study nursing. Dowdell would have begun preparing for football season at Jacksonville State.

Dowdell’s mother, LaTonya Allen, told WSFA it was hard to not see him at his graduation, but she is still proud of him and his accomplishments.

“At first, it was very heartbreaking, but I was strong and I did better than I thought I would,” Allen said. “It’s a big accomplishment that he had been waiting on for months, and I knew I had to do it for him. And I’m proud. I’m a proud mom, and it feels like I’m graduating all over again.”

The ceremony was emotional for many.

“I’m a big ole grown man and I cried like a baby,” Mason Jamison said. “I didn’t know the people who got shot, but I sort of felt the pain of the town. I felt like I had to go pay my respects to the victims and to be around the people and hug somebody because we’re all hurting.”

Last month, a Tallapoosa grand jury handed down a 145-count indictment against five of the six suspects arrested in connection with the shooting. Of the 28 surviving victims, the oldest was 37-year-old Allen. The other victims were one 19-year-old, six 18-year-olds, three 17-year-olds, ten 16-year-olds, five 15-year-olds and two 14-year-olds.