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North Carolina graduating senior Deonta Whitaker, 17 (pictured right), and his older brother, Anthony Whitaker, 24 (pictured left), were both killed in a car crash enroute to Deonta’s commencement ceremony at Bertie County High School on Saturday, June 8, reports WCTI12.com.

Anthony was driving the car when it ran off of the road, hit a ditch, then a tree, before finally coming to rest on its side, according to investigators.

Deonta and Anthony’s mother, Sandra Williams-McGlone, was in the gym with their entire family, waiting for graduation to start, when the principal escorted her out and broke the devastating news.

“Finally, they told us that both of them were deceased,” McGlone told NewsChannel 12. “Deonta was scheduled to graduate. Well, he did graduate. We had his friends there who received his diploma; he just didn’t get to walk.”

Investigators determined that speed played a factor. The brothers were pronounced dead at the scene, but it is not known if they died instantly.

“Did they survive this to know what happened and then they died, or do they not know what happen?” said Williams-McGlone.

Deonta was planning to attend Elizabeth City State University in the fall.

Anthony was employed as a technician with UTI Global Logistic; he leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter.

“I just can’t describe it. It’s unbelievable. It’s like it’s a dream that I want to wake up from,” said Williams-McGlone.

“This is such a difficult time, for us…Our minds were all over the place,” said Deonta’s godmother and aunt, Tamare Cherry.

A joint funeral serviceĀ  for the brothers will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bertie County High School.