three winners. that was the importance of them to this community. let me step out of the way and show you as this vigil is wrapping up. you can see the crowd dwindling but still numbering in the hundreds. hundreds gathered out here on this cold night one year ago from the murders to hear from the parents and school leaders from both unc and nc state. the over all message from the parents tonight to pray for their kids. but also to do their works of service living on in their way, in their form, throughout their lives. in fact, they point to a #forwardwithfaith. then the endowment of our three winners.org. an avenue in which people can donate and continue to do their good works out here. it was a moving ceremony. and a cold ceremony. people were huddled together. joined together regardless of faith. under one message and one

their lives gave themselves up to a higher call a bigger purpose. that was the scene here tonight. we'll have more on how their legacy continues on but for now back to you. the families continue to struggle with the loss of their children. i sat down with the mothers to discuss what life is like one year later. >> it's an image we'll never forget. >> tell me how my son is. what's his situation? >> begging for answers from police after learning. >> if he's dead tell me he's dead. if he's alive, tell me he's alive. >> hours later it was confirmed his son, his newlywed wife and her sister were murdered by their neighbor, craig hicks. execution style. three nights after the

>> as i mother, i have to ask this, how are you wives doing? >> they're taking it very tough. it's hard on them. >> they're heartbroken. my wife is hardly having any sleep. >> nearly one year later i asked the mothers the same question. >> we're still healing. hopefully with time we'll feel much better. something big is missing from my life. and my home. >> reporter: she says it's becoming more difficult as time goes on. >> because you sense, you feel the absence more. it's harder, it's not getting easier. >> the bed rooms at their parents home, the way they left them. >> this was a gift. >> she's proudly showing me their many medals. >> you said she played basketball.

>> and her artistic talents. she wanted to be an architect. >> that's great. very good work. >> every morning she still stops by their rooms and says good morning to her girls. nicknamed zizi and susu. >> i come to their room and hug their pillows. it's tough to live without them. but this is god's wish. and we accepted it. presence. and that gives her peace. >> i'm living with them. it's not only when i go to his room. i feel they are with me wherever i go. >> she says in the days leading up to the shootings, her daughter expressed concern about hicks. she witnessed one of the encounters. >> i noticed that he was talking with her.

and his voice was loud. and she came back to me, i told her what's wrong? she told me this neighbor, this is second time he give me hard time. so immediately i told her, let me talk to him. and see what's the problem. she said no please mom, don't talk to him. he's my neighbor and with time, he will know us, he will know me and dia and hopefully we'll become like real neighbor, close neighbor. >> never in your wildest dreams would you think it would escalate to this. >> exactly. i don't know why he just went to their apartment with his gun and did what he did. there is no cause. unless if he planned it. that's what i'm thinking. he planned it. this is something that he planned. i believe it's because they are muslim.

hicks, what would you say to him? >> why did he shoot him? he was helpless. you did six bullets in his body. and the second one is the killer. because i realize he saw it all, he heard it all, he lived it all. he lived the horror. and why is that? i want to ask him why? >> but their legacy is alive and everywhere. so hicks will be sorry for all the rest of his life. they were kind, gentle, yeah. smart kids. loving, forgiving. >> exactly. they liked to help others. >> with her curly hair and bright eyes.

with beautiful black hair and beautiful black eyes. i love her. she's my snow white. when i saw her in the coffin, she always look like snow white. and she was smiling. >> you're my best friend, my role model, and my favorite sister. >> for a few moments, we put us. three moms sitting together laughing. we look through pictures and videos as they reminisced about the good times and the memories that will forever live on. >> such strong women. they say their faith keeps them strong. and they believe their children are at peace.

they just want justice. our other big story tonight, vice president joe biden stopped at duke university this afternoon to talk about a cancer fighting initiative. it's a cause close to his heart after losing his son last summer. bo minnick has the story. >> almost everyone in the world has a family member who's had a brush with or a loss as a consequence of cancer. >> everyone includes the vice president. joe biden led a round table discussion with cancer researchers from duke and unc. cancer impacted the biden family when the vice president's son bo biden died in may from brain cancer. >> i'm not naive. i didn't think we could quote end cancer. i'm not looking for a silver bullet. there is none. as part of biden's cancer moon shot initiative. he's hoping to make decades worth of advances in the fight against cancer in the next five years.

the research labs at the duke cancer institute. >> are there trauma scene areas that are potential breakthrough technologies. >> i think our wisdom in knowing what we're picking up at every earlier phases is what's really lagged behind the technology. >> the vice president also talked about increased access to clinical trials while the goal of curing cancer is a moon shot, the vice president believes it's a goal that will eventually be in sight. >> the science is ready. the science is ready. it seems to me. much more has to be done. >> biden asked what the federal government can do to help in the fight to cure cancer. president obama is asking for $800 million in this year's budget for cancer research. bo minnick, wncn news now. one year after the killing of three muslim students in chapel hill, their legacy of giving lives on,. next at 7:00, the worldwide impact of their lives and deaths and how they inspired a call to public service. plus the latest from a man

why police say mistakes were made. but before we go, here's a live look at i-40 and 540.

we'll be right back. well temperaturely barely got out of the 30s today. we topped out at 40 degrees. we're back in the 20s and 30s. if you think we're almost

again, there are fiv i'm a dental student at unc and i need your help. >> before his death, he was working to raise $20,000 bring free dental care to syrian refugees in turkey. following the shooting. half a million dollars was donated to fund the project.

time to public service. this is his last facebook post, january 29th 2015. he's providing free dental supplies and food to more than 75 homeless people in downtown durham. today his fellow students at the unc dental school honored that legacy of giving with a public memorial. his classmates held a home of silence to honor their colleague. the legacy of giving back has inspired people around the world. since the deaths, the community has come together to honor their memory through various community service projects. >> if more on the legacy of giving we send it back to sean maroney, live on the campus where the memorial just wrapped up. >> hundreds of people gathered here to honor what's now been known as our three winners. i want to bring someone in who can talk more about that legacy. shadi sadi who is part of the

this house was his and it's called the lighthouse project. why is that so important as we look ahead. >> it's really important. all three of them were really beacons of light in our community. and now, in their absence, we feel we must stay together as a community and carry the torch on in their absence. and really this lighthouse should be an anchor in the community keeping us together. >> this lighthouse is located in southeast raleigh. there's been a lot of talk of the endowment. why is that so important? the funding the go forward in helping with these service projects. >> i feel like it's important to pick up where they left off and, you know, it was really important for them to help in the community and we want to do that same thing. and you know whether it's feeding the homeless or helping with habitat for humanity, or whatever the case may be, we want to be there in the community and be able to step up. >> these were dear friends of

what was going through your mind tonight? >> more than anything we really miss them. i think it's just hard for everybody. the pain's still raw. >> the pain is still very raw. shadi, thank you so much for sharing your insight. and good luck with your continued success with the project. speaking of the nature of the crime, i want to send it to my colleague, wncn investigates jonathan rodriguez. >> reporter: greg hicks is facing it first-degree murder charges. the state will seek the death penalty in this case. he awaits trial. when this happened, all eyes were on the chapel hill police department. not just here, international because of the nature of this crime. the police chief says it put his department under immense pressure and scrutiny. we talked to him about that night. >> this was a tragedy, a senseless tragedy, that had international repercussions. >> orange county 911. what's the address of your emergency.

i don't know what building it came from but i heard kids screaming. >> we were dispatched to a call of shots fired. >> a shooting left three people dead. >> you can see national and international media has gathered here tonight. >> three muslim students are dead. they're dead after being shot in an apartment near the university of north carolina. >> we realized we had something very serious and tragic and at that point, everybody does. >> the entire shift of the chapel hill police department is here. and when we arrived on scene, more and more officers were arriving. >> in the first few minutes when you realize the seriousness of what's happened and you do not yet have a suspect, those are terrifying moments. the suspect was craig hicks, on scene family members were desperate to find out the fate of their children. >> i just need to know what is going on. it's been hours. >> give us some more time. >> from what the police officer

into the apartment yet. >> investigations take time. even preliminary investigations take time. and that was certainly the case here. and for a grieving family who's waiting for information about a loved one and suspecting the worst, i so wish that we would have gotten information to them more quickly on that night. >> hours later, hicks turned himself in. and police released the first details of what they thought happened not knowing it would lead to a fire storm. >> we knew there had been ongoing neighbor disputes with mr. hicks. and that those had been volatile at times. >> police say it was fueled by an argument over parking but family members claim it was spurred by hate for muslims. >> because our right to worship freely and safely. that was denied muslims in chapel hill. >> yes, we would do that differently now. and i think that's something you can only learn through experience. >> cries from the family made it clear. in their eyes the shootings couldn't have been anything but

>> they still are -- they're frustrated. to be honest. that this was still depicted as an issue over parking. do you guys believe this is still an issue over parking? >> well, i think i know what we said in that initial release was what we knew at the time. and it was intended to be informational and to bring some -- at least some preliminary understanding to why this might have happened. certainly what we've learned since then, what was intended to be informational felt dismissive, presumptuous and really insulting in some ways. intent. you learn an awful lot through experiences like that about it. >> the terrifying images from that night are something chapel hill police chief chris blue says his officers will never forget. >> the horror of what you're seeing and imagining what the victims experienced is

officers will never, ever lose. >> he says it's a tragedy that will forever scar chapel hill but it's also given his department a chance to grow their relationship with the muslim community and others who have leaned on each other to get them through. >> those connections and networks have been strengthened and enhanced and continue to this day and beyond. and if there is something we can take from this tragedy, i think that's certainly it. >> reporter: the fbi also conducted its own investigation. they have finished that and passed their findings along to the u.s. attorneys office who's working with the department of jus sis to see if they'll charge craig hicks with a federal hate crime. back to you sharon in the studio. >> thanks for that perspective. you can see the stories online at wncn.com. turning to weather now, you know sean's been talking all night long about how cold it's been at the vigil. he said it's only going to get colder. >> today was 40 degrees. not the coldest day by far over the next week.

news to start off with the weather cast. here's what we have cooking outside right now. nothing is cooking. cooking sounds good. temperatures in the upper 20s to low 30s. we still have a little bit of a breeze. so we've gotwomens in the low 20s. -- windchills in the low 20s. 19 in roxboro. the numbers aren't going up. here's what we have hour by hour into thursday morning. a couple clouds will soon leave. we have no precipitation to talk about. temperature over windchill as we've been doing all week long, 30 at 8:00 will feel like 22 by midnight. we're down to 26 which peoples like 18. and you're out the door tomorrow morning, 20 feels like 14. and that's not the coldest morning we've got. i'm full of good news. the same set up as yesterday. big area of low pressure to the north keeping all the snow to the north. but it is pulling down a northwesterly wind that's helping to continue to drop temperatures. next, we're going to watch snow

bring a small chance of light rain or flurries on friday. let's talk about that before we get to the colder weekend. tomorrow not a lot going on. including warming. we have sunny skies throughout the day. dry weather. and again, temperatures barely out of the 30s. then we get into early friday morning. we see clouds move in. watch down to the south. a little system starts to develop. and after lunch time, for a very brief period, with very little impact, you can see a little bit of snow, maybe a mix. maybe some light rain. the triangle. could be falling when you head home from school. but when you head home from work, it's out of here. we start to clear out and dry out and get really cold as we head into the weekend. so tomorrow, again, a calm day. but a very cold day again. we have that little system that's going to give us a brief shot of light rain, maybe a few snow flurries, mainly south and southeast on friday. then we get reinforcements of that cold air. some of us will not get above freezing, 32 degrees all

and that will set the stage for this monday and tuesday. a bigger area of low pressure with more moisture moving up from the south. colliding with that cold air. bringing us a chance of snow monday which will turn to a tuesday. that's the next big system we're watching. so tomorrow, a sunny, cold day, still a little breezy too. windchills won't get out of the 30s. and highs in the 30s friday will stay cold saturday and including a 13-degree morning on sunday morning. and then we have a mess possibly coming our way by monday and tuesday.

a letter being delivered to landowners in selma indicates a proposed sub will not happen. >> the project was null and void. this comes after the governor first said the project was not a viable option. property owners there fought the proposal because it threatened to take away their land. four men face charges of beating up a wake county sheriff's deputies. police say the ambush happened over the weekend at a child's

each are charged well after a high of 40 today, you liked it so much we'll do it again tomorrow. more sunshine tomorrow. a little breezy too.

days in a row. friday, saturday, and sunday, a chance of light snow, not a huge impact if any at all on friday. but look at sunday, we start the morning at 13. we don't get out of the 20s hardly. it's going to be cold. >> we have some snuggle alerts coming up. >> we do. some triple snuggle alerts. >> in time for valentine's day.

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