Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for church killer

dimeji akinloye

September 3, 2015 7:56 PM

Roof is charged with the racially motivated murders, AP reports on Thursday, September 3.

Dylann Roof

The killer of nine people in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, Dylann Roof faces death penalty as State Prosecutors have said they will seek death sentence.

After the June 17 massacre of black ministers and parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, it emerged that the suspect had expressed white supremacist views and hatred of black people.

Mr. Roof has been indicted twice for the killings, in state court and in federal court, and each of those cases carries a possible death sentence. Until the court filing Thursday by Scarlett A. Wilson, the South Carolina state solicitor overseeing the case, neither set of prosecutors has said publicly whether they would seek to have him executed, but state officials, including Governor Nikki R. Haley, have strongly said that the case warrants the death penalty.

According to AP, prosecutors said they intend to present evidence on Roof’s mental state, adult and juvenile criminal record and other conduct, as well as his apparent lack of remorse for the killings.

Roof walked into the historic church in downtown Charleston, and sat in a Bible study session for almost an hour before drawing a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, and shooting people ranging in age from 26 to 87.

dimeji akinloye