NEW YORK – An openly white supremacist is guilty of first-degree murder and other state charges in a May shooting that killed 10 people at a supermarket in the predominantly black neighborhood of Buffalo, NY. confirmed, according to local media.
During a hearing in Erie County Courthouse, Peyton Gendron, 19, pleaded guilty to 25 counts related to the shooting, in which three people were injured. In June he initially He pleaded not guilty after a grand jury returned the indictment.
A native of Conklin, New York, Gendron was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of second-degree murder, all charged with hate crimes.
The grand jury indictment included hate-motivated domestic terrorism charges and accused Gendron of carrying out the attack based on the victim’s perceived race.
He faces life in prison without parole. New York does not have the death penalty.
Gendron, who was 18 at the time of the incident, drove three hours from his home near Binghamton, New York, to Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo. He was looking for a public place in an area where many black people live.
At the supermarket, he shot 13 people with a semi-automatic assault rifle. Eleven of his victims were black.
Police say he left a racist manifesto online before the attack and live-streamed the shooting on social media.
Terrence Connors, an attorney for the relatives of the seven dead and two surviving victims, previously said Gendron did not have a plea bargain with prosecutors.
A sentencing trial is scheduled for a later date.
A separate indictment filed in U.S. District Court in July charged Gendron with 27 counts of federal hate crimes and firearms crimes and could face the death penalty if convicted.AFP
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/buffalo-supermarket-shooting-suspect-pleads-guilty-to-murder Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect pleads guilty to murder