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HUNTINGTON Ƶ Courtney Burns estimates she was five months pregnant when Megan Poston called on May 21, 2005.
Poston had urged Burns to stop by the civic arena to see her prom dress. Burns, then 18, left the arena telling her friend to call on Sunday.
That call never came, and now five years later BurnsƵ son is months from starting kindergarten. But Burns still yearns to know who killed her friend and three other teenagers.
ƵIt feels like time has gone so fast, but at the same time it feels like it has been forever since IƵve seen Megan,Ƶ Burns said.
Poston was the youngest of four teenagers gunned down about 4:30 a.m. May 22, 2005, at 1410 Charleston Ave. Other victims were Donté Ward, 19, of Huntington; Eddrick Clark, 18, of South Point, Ohio; and Michael Dillon, 17, of Huntington.
Milestones seem to have passed every year for friends and teenage family members left behind. PostonƵs mother, Subrina, has noticed.
ƵEverybody moves on but you,Ƶ she said. ƵThey do. Everybody elseƵs Christmases move on. Everybody elseƵs birthdays move on. Even though my children love Megan and miss Megan, even they move on.Ƶ
Burns gave birth to her son Aug. 10, 2005. She remembered it being a difficult pregnancy and she was warned by some that crying over her friendƵs death could cause a miscarriage.
The teenage mother persevered. She gave birth Aug. 10, 2005, naming her son after her friend. Zaidyn NagemƵs middle name is ƵMeganƵ spelled backward.
Victoria Pankey took a similar step in honoring Clark. They were cousins with birthdays separated by about three months. She gave birth to her first daughter about 15 months after his death. She named her child Justice. It was one of two names Clark had wanted for his first child.
The lives of Jessi Pierson and Lindsay Pierce also are dotted with milestones past. They had repeatedly bumped into Poston that night at Huntington HighƵs prom. It would become a recurring joke that night as the three girls danced with friends from the cross-county school.
ƵIt was so crazy that we had just talked to her and then she was murdered,Ƶ Pierson said.
Pierce and Pierson now are finishing up substitute teaching at Geneva Kent Elementary School. Landing that job followed PiersonƵs top-ten finish and Miss Photogenic award at the Miss USA pageant in 2009.
For her part, Pierce is preparing to be married to her prom date of five years ago.
Marriage also is on the horizon for Pankey. She got engaged this Easter and plans to marry on Easter 2012. She will graduate in October with a recently completed degree in medical assisting. She works at a chiropractorƵs office, her fourth job in the past five years.
Burns hopes to graduate with a dental assisting degree in March 2012.
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