GRANT COUNTY, Ky. (WKRC) - Graduation is supposed to be a happy time, but for one local mother, it's double the heartbreak. Courtney Thompson died when she was 14. Her class graduates Friday -- a ceremony her mother thought might include remembrance for her daughter.
It won't. And now, police are involved.
Thompson's mother, Myka Williams, was planning to be on campus for Grant County High School's graduation, but she's been told by the school district and sheriff's deputies that if she's on school property, she will be arrested. Williams says it's because she wants her daughter to be remembered.
Thompson is remembered as an outgoing bubbly, cheerleader and a talented athlete playing high school softball in middle school.
"She loved everybody," said Abby Roland, Thompson's friend.
"She was one of my best friends, but yet I was still her mother," said Williams.
Kentucky State Police say Thompson killed herself when she was 14. Roland says the loss of Thompson is still hard for the class of 2019. They had a plan to remember her on their graduation day.
"We checked last week to make sure that everything was still good -- the chair, the speech, the moment of silence -- everything. And then today she was not mentioned at all, so I stood up and asked and there was no answer," Roland said.
Grant County Schools says it's not policy to remember a student that was not yet enrolled at the high school. Williams says it's been done before.
"They honored a little girl who passed away in eighth grade that didn't even play high school sports," she said.
Roland decorated her cap in honor of her best friend but now doesn't even want to walk the stage.
"I was going to give up my chair and just drape her cap and gown over mine and say just give me my diploma or I will stand to the side," Roland said.
"I'm not trying to take away from any of these other kids. I just want my daughter to be honored as well. Just because she's not physically here doesn't mean she's not here," said Williams.
"She was part of our graduating class and she should be here, but she's not," said Roland.
The school says there will be a bouquet at the ceremony representing all who have been lost.
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