Funeral services held for sisters killed in double homicide case

GILMER — The community of Gilmer was in mourning on Saturday as funeral services were held for sisters Mandy Ray and Shakerrie Waters, our news partner KETK reports. The two were killed at a home off Highway 271 South near Bluebird Road on Saturday Nov. 4. A suspect in their murder 41-year-old Alvin McKnight Jr. was arrested in California on Wednesday night, according to the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office. “Big loss, big loss to our church, big loss for our community, you can see the crowd that was here, they touched the lives of so many people,” said Pastor Forrest Curry with Moses Chapel CME Church Gilmer. Many community members and many of the sisters’ family members and friends came out the service to pay their respects. “They were great people. I raised them both up, they were more like children, kids of mine, I taught them how to sing in the choir, they fellowship one with another, they came from a good background,” said Pastor Jerry Jeter with Oak Grove CME Church Gilmer. The funeral service was held at the Gilmer Civic Center at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Flowers can be sent to Turner Brothers located at 317 East Marshall Street in Gilmer.