After three hours, a jury sentenced Dylann Roof to death for the shooting rampage that claimed the lives of nine church members at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston on June, 17, 2015.
Just last month, the same jury convicted Roof of 33 federal charges, including hate crimes, making him the first person to face execution for federal hate crime convictions, according to BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Roof pleaded for his life telling jurors, “I have the right to ask you to give me a life sentence, but I’m not sure what good it would do anyway.” Showing no remorse, the 22-year-old’s words may have fell on deaf ears. “I still feel like I had to do it,” said Roof.
According to ABC News, Roof’s family said in a statement, “We will always love Dylann. We will struggle as long as we live to understand why he committed this horrible attack.”
It’s been more than a year since the church shooting and we still can’t imagine what the victims’ families are going through, but survivor Felicia Sanders went further than most people would go. “I forgive you,” said Sanders during Roof’s sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
It probably won’t be the last time you hear the name Dylann Roof. That’s because he still faces a state trial in which he may face the death penalty again.
TELL US: Would you have Christian courage to forgive Dylann Roof?
