2 Former Cleveland Captives Receive Belated Honor

Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus get their high school diplomas
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 29, 2015 4:32 PM CDT
2 Former Cleveland Captives Receive Belated Honor
A 2014 file photo of Gina DeJesus, left, and Amanda Berry.   (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Ariel Castro robbed them of the chance to graduate from high school as teenagers, but two of his former captives picked up honorary diplomas this week in Cleveland. Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus donned caps and gowns and received them during John Marshall High School's commencement, reports WKYC. Berry was a student at the school when she was abducted in 2003, and DeJesus was only in middle school when abducted the following year, but she would have gone to John Marshall.

"It was awesome," Berry tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer of the ceremony. "I always wanted to grow up and be somebody and do something with my life, you know? I always planned to graduate, and my mom always wanted that for me, to see me cross the stage. So this means everything to me." She and DeJesus have collaborated on a memoir. (More Amanda Berry stories.)

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