SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — Malachi Hill-Massey will walk across the stage at the Bank of Springfield Center on Saturday and get his high school diploma.

He will have family, friends and mentors in the crowd, but he will have his mother — Sonya Massey — with him on stage in spirit.

“This is all my mom really wanted for me,” Hill-Massey said. “She wanted me to graduate. It;s a mission completed to me.”

It’s been 11 months since Sonya Massey was shot and killed in her home by former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson. Those 11 months have been chaotic for Malachi as he balanced his schoolwork, his job, his rage and his love for his mother. While her death has inspired fear, anger and righteousness for people across the country, her memory inspired him to get to this finish line.

“I just tried to just push to power through and just remember that my mom wanted me to graduate regardless of anything,” Hill-Massey said. “So I just remember I have the power to do and get it done.”

Malachi says he has a long list of people to thank for helping him get to this moment.

“At school, like everybody was there for me, like everybody was helping me,” Hill-Massey said.

The Massey family will watch Malachi cross the stage at the bank of Springfield center on Saturday. That moment of pride will give them a much needed reprieve after months of seeking justice for Sonya Massey.

“I’m so proud of him that he’s weathered the storm in the world,” James Wilburn, Sonya Massey’s father said. “You know, we handle things on a day to day basis. Some days are good days, some days are bad days for all of us. And we try to stay in touch with him on the story on the telephone as much as we can. I’m just overjoyed that he did make this through to completion.”

Sonya’s mother said she knows her daughter will be looking down, smiling as he crosses that stage.

“We’re so happy that he’s made his mom proud,” Sonya’s mother Donna Massey said. “We can feel her shining down on us. She’s happy.”