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."

Donohue feels the need to be around people.

"I've got to the point where I can't be alone," she said. "The only place on campus that has changed in any way, for me at least, is my dorm right now."

Donohue tried returning to the dorm.

"Being in the dorm made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't be in there," she said.

Still, despite her ability to forgive, Donohue said she understood that people would be angry.

"I lost, I lost a friend. I lost one of the girls in my Bible study. And I know, I know, I know that she's already forgiven him. I know she was probably praying for him when he was in her classroom and when he was shooting people," she said. "It's totally understandable to be angry right at first, but I just hope that they're able to get past it."

For more information about the organizations Donohue is involved in, visit every student.com or campuscrusadeforchrist.com.