A month after a jury deliberation found Dylann Roof guilty of all 33 counts in his racially motivated 2015 massacre against a black congregation, a federal jury has condemned him to death.
Prosecutors played video of his two hour confession to FBI agents and read Roof's jailhouse manifesto, both of which admitted to premeditation and expressed zero remorse in his actions. He was ruled capable of standing trial by the judge, then inexplicably tried to represent himself. Roof called no witnesses, put no defense toward his psychological ruling, and wore a blank face for the entirety of the trial. The death sentence seemed an inevitable formality.
On June 17, 2015 Roof entered the Charleston church and was offered a seat by Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney for bible study. He kept his head bowed for about an hour before unleashing a storm of bullets from his .45 calliber semi-automatic handgun. Each victim was hit repeatedly and over 70 shots were fired when the shooting concluded.
In total, nine people were killed: Mr. Pinckney, Susie Jackson, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Ethel Lee Lance, Rev. DePayne Middleton Dr., Rev. Daniel L. Simmons Sr., Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson.
Roof will be formally sentenced by Judge Richard Gergel tomorrow at 9:30am EST.
