Amber Roof was supposed to have her wedding on June 21.
Four days earlier, her brother Dylann allegedly shot and killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, S.C.
Out of respect for the victims and due to their own grief, Roof and her fiancé, Michael Tyo, called off the event. But the couple created a fundraising page to cover the costs of the lost wedding. It was active four days before they abruptly took it down Thursday.
"Our wedding day was full of sorrow, pain, and shame, tainted by the actions of one man," she wrote on the GoFundMe page. "The Charleston Massacre took place and our lives were forever changed."
The fundraising page aimed to help the couple move forward, paying for the canceled event, but also covering bills and the couple's honeymoon. Since the page went up on Saturday, they raised $1,545 of their $5,000 goal. The webpage said 10% of the funds raised will be donated to the Emanuel AME Church.
On the page, Roof recounted the couple's experience following the shooting, never referring to the charged suspect as her brother but as "one man."
"Our wedding day was suppose to be the most important and special day of our lives," she wrote on the website. "It was suppose to start our lives together with our new family. Our day was the exact opposite."
Over 30 donors contributed to the GoFundMe before it was abruptly taken down, with amounts ranging from $9 to $200.
Some donors left messages expressing sorrow and sympathy for the couple.
"I too have a selfish brother that has ruined a few of my special days" wrote a donor under the name of Megan P. "A situation like this could have easily been me since my brother has threatened to kill my father on several occasions."
Another donor, identified as American BlackLivesMatter, donated $9 – one for each of the nine victims of the shooting.
On the page, Roof reiterated the purpose of canceling the wedding in the first place.
"We canceled our wedding to protect our family and mourning the lives of those lost," she wrote. "Many friends and family members came into town and took time off of work to be there for us. We could not ask you to do that again."
Roof's statements echo those made by her family after the crime took place.
"We feel it would be inappropriate to say anything at this time other than that we are truly sorry for their loss," a family statement released June 25 said.
Roof's father and uncle identified the charged killer from surveillance photos and contacted police, according to the warrant for Dylann Roof's arrest.
"Words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night," the family's first statement read.
In the weeks following the mass shooting, the nation has mourned the lives lost due to what the Justice Department is investigating as a racially charged hate crime. The mass shooting opened a slew of national debates, including ones on the value of the confederate flag and gun control.
More details of the suspect's background have emerged since the shooting, including a white supremacist manifesto reportedly written by the accused killer that explains why he chose to target the Emanuel AME church.
The suspect is charged with nine counts of murder and possession of a firearm. He is being held without bail in a Charleston County jail.
