Photo courtesy of CNN.
Summary: The Charleston Shooter has been sentenced to death.
White supremacist Dylann Roof was sentenced to death for killing nine black church-goers. In June of 2015, the now 22-year-old entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, and opened fire. The racial motivation of the crime sparked a debate within the state to temporarily remove the Confederate Flag from the State House building.
Last month, a jury convicted Roof of killing Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41; Rev. Daniel Simmons, 74; Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; and Tywanza Sanders, 26. On Wednesday, Judge Richard Gergel announced Roof would receive the death penalty, and this decision was made after hearing impact statements from the victims’ family.
“This trial has produced no winners, only losers,” Gergel said.
Roof represented himself in the penalty phase of his trial. He was previously represented by attorneys, but he stated that he did not trust them and fired them. According to NBC News, he is eligible to file for post-trial appeals. He has fourteen days to do so.
During the trial, Roof seemed to not bother to defend himself. He refused to present witnesses or evidence; and in his closing statement, he suggested that arguing for life in prison wasn’t worth the effort.
Before the jury’s verdict, there was no doubt that the remorseless Roof had committed the murders. He had videotaped a confession, explaining that he wanted to start a race war; and that tape was obtained by the FBI. Additionally, Polly Sanders, who had survived the shooting, testified in court that Roof had told her she could live because he wanted to leave her there to tell the story.
Roof is now the 63rd person on death row, which includes Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. NBC News said that it could take years before Roof is actually executed.
Roof faces another trial by the State of South Carolina, and in that trial, he also faces the death penalty. The date has not yet been determined.
Source: NBC News
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