Danielle Locklear gone - but not forgotten - at South View HS graduation

HOPE MILLS, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Amid the cheers and applause Thursday night, there was a moment of silence for Danielle Locklear.

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She would have been among the South View High School seniors graduated Thursday evening. Instead, the chair where she would have sat was decorated with a larger-than-life graduation cap.

Her family members were in the huge crowd at the Crown Auditorium, watching as students received their diplomas and turned their tassels.

Locklear was 15 when she was killed in May 2014 by her former boyfriend, who is serving 25 to 30 years in prison for Locklear's murder.

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South View High School officials also gave Locklear's family a shadowbox of school memorabilia.

A gold plate on that box read, "In loving memory of Danielle Locklear, Class of 2017. Gone but not forgotten."