BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The families of the victims of a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket are anticipated to receive an important update in the legal case against the gunman, Payton Gendron, in federal court on Friday. This comes after Gendron was charged with hate crimes and weapons charges for the attack that took the lives of 10 Black people and left three others wounded on May 14, 2022.
Attorney Terrence Connors, who represents some of the victim’s relatives, revealed that the Department of Justice will meet with them before an afternoon status conference. One of the key issues the families have been waiting to hear about is whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Gendron, who has already been serving multiple life sentences with no parole after pleading guilty to state charges of murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate.
The families are eager to learn the outcome of the Justice Department’s capital case committee’s recommendation, which was issued in the fall of 2023. Gendron’s lawyers have indicated that he would plead guilty in the federal case if prosecutors agree not to pursue the death penalty.
The victims at the Tops Friendly Market on Buffalo’s predominantly Black East Side ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included a church deacon, the grocery store’s guard, a man shopping for a birthday cake, a grandmother of nine, and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner. The gunman, armed with a semiautomatic rifle and equipped with a livestreaming camera, wore bullet-resistant armor and a helmet during the attack, which was carried out with illegal high-capacity ammunition magazines.
The families of the victims are eagerly awaiting updates on the legal case against Gendron, who is charged with hate crimes and weapons charges for the brutal attack that resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals and injuries to three others. Gendron’s lawyers have indicated his willingness to plead guilty in the federal case, potentially avoiding the death penalty. With victims and their families seeking closure, the outcome of the Department of Justice’s capital case committee’s recommendation will be of great significance in this tragic case.