CHURCH MASSACRE
WHITE supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine black church members in South Carolina on June 17, 2015.
He became the first person to be ordered to be put to death for a federal hate crime.
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Who is Dylann Roof?
Dylann Storm Roof killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
He was arrested the morning after the massacre.
Roof, now 26, was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and had a troubled upbringing.
His dad Bennett Roof was a carpenter and mum Amelia Cowles was a bartender.
His parents had already divorced when he was conceived, and his dad remarried when he was five to Paige Harris, who basically raised him and his elder sister Amber.
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But when his step-mum Paige and his dad divorced after 10 years, she claimed Bennett had subjected her to a "pattern of control and mental manipulation" ending in a violent battering.
She said Bennett believed she was having an affair and hired a private detective to stalk her.
When the divorce was finalised, Dylann's chance at a stable family life disappeared as his dad was working away most of the time.
He struggled at school, failing the ninth grade twice before dropping out and began spending all his time online, becoming a recluse.
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His dad is believed to have bought the gun used in the massacre.
What crimes did Dylann Roof commit?
Roof was found guilty of 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and firearms violations.
The charges included nine counts of a hate crime act resulting in death.
His lawyers had said Roof wanted to plead guilty to the 33 federal charges he faces, but only if prosecutors would rule out the death penalty.
But the Justice Department confirmed it was seeking the death penalty against Roof.
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What sentence was Roof given?
Roof was sentenced to death after being convicted of the federal charges.
The convicted killer filed an appeal earlier this year, arguing that he was mentally ill when he represented himself at his capital trial.
His lawyers asked the court to review 20 issues, including errors they say were made that “tainted” his sentencing.
The appellate attorneys said Roof had been diagnosed with “schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, autism, anxiety, and depression,” but that he “jettisoned” his experienced lawyers during his trial.
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The new lawyers said his trial attorneys told the judge that in their decades of experience, “none had represented a defendant so disconnected from reality.”
Nine people have been executed by the federal government in 2020, including Brandon Bernard.
Who were Dylann Roof's victims?
The churchgoers who were killed included Clementa Pinckney, Myra Thompson, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Daniel Simmons, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Cynthia Hurd, Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, and Tywanza Sanders.
At 26, Sanders was the youngest to be killed during the massacre.
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“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with open arms,” his mother Felicia said in court to Roof, according to The Toronto Star.
“Tywanza Sanders was my son, but Tywanza was my hero. Tywanza was my hero.
"But as we said in Bible study, we enjoyed you but may God have mercy on you.”
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The 87-year-old Jackson was called "Grandma Susie" and was her the head of a large family.
“She always made sure we knew the importance of attending church,” grandson Walter Jackson Jr. told the newspaper.
“Church at Mother Emanuel is pretty much an all-day thing.”