Freshman Who Found Students Dead Believes Cho Should Be Forgiven
April 19, 2007 — -- Molly Donohue, the student who discovered Seung-hui Cho's first two victims dead in their dorm, believes Cho should be forgiven, she told "Good Morning America."
The beginning of Cho's rampage at Virginia Tech began with the deaths of Emily Hilscher and Ryan "Stack" Clark at West Ambler Johnston Hall -- the dorm that everyone now calls "West AJ."
Moments after their brutal deaths, they were discovered by Donohue, a freshman, as the killer rearmed for more bloodshed.
"What he did was horrible. I feel comfortable and at peace and all right with where I am if I just forgive him," she told "Good Morning America's" Claire Shipman.
The pain of reliving the events was so intense that a few times during the interview, ABC News had to stop the cameras to allow Donohue to recover.
"I heard a really loud female voice scream. … I opened my door, and that's when I saw the blood and footprints, the sneaker prints leading in a trail from her room," Donohue said. "I just opened the door and that's when I saw. … At the time I didn't know it was my RA [resident assistant] -- and we call him 'Stack.' … He was on the floor against the door. … I just wanted to get away because I was scared."
"And then my boyfriend came up to me and he told me that while I was in the back room, that Stack was confirmed dead," she said.
The images of terror still haunt her.
"I mostly think about her scream. I don't necessarily hear it, but I remember how I felt when I heard it," she said. "But maybe after a while, I'll think more about the good stuff and less about the bad stuff, and maybe I won't be numb anymore."
Donohue's greatest solace and support right now are a dedicated group of friends, mostly from her Bible study class.
"It just felt so much better when they were just praying for me," she said. "I feel like if I wasn't with them. … And I went home. Home only knows what the media and what's been on TV. Home doesn't know, they don't know the people. They don't know how well Tech responded."
Related Stories
ABC News Live