The Buffalo Tops shooter has been sentenced to life in prison without parole
Updated February 15, 2023 at 11:38 AM ET
The 19-year-old white gunman who killed 10 Black people and injured three others at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., last year has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan handed down the sentence during a hearing on Wednesday.
"There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful and evil ideologies in a civilized society. There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances," Eagan said.
"The damage you have caused is too great, and the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community. You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again," she added.
Payton Gendron pleaded guilty in November to 15 criminal charges — including a first-degree domestic terrorism charge that comes with a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the chance of parole — following the deadly racist attack at a Tops supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Gendron, who was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit during the Wednesday hearing, made a brief statement in which he apologized to the families of the victims for carrying out the racist massacre.
"I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black," said Gendron, who spoke from the defense table. "Looking back now I can't believe I actually did it."
His comments came after several hours of testimony from victims and the family members of those shot, who gave emotional victim impact statements to a crowded courtroom.
Ruth Whitfield's granddaughter, Simone Crawley, told Gendron that her 86-year-old grandmother's legacy will outlive him.
"You will simply go from a name to a number. You will be herded like cattle. You will be shut away from the world," she said. "Even with all of the heartache you have caused, you have failed to break our family's spirit. You thought you broke us, but you awoke us."
Gendron bowed his head and appeared to be crying at times during the statements from victims' family members.
At one point, a man lunged toward Gendron and was restrained by police, while other officers quickly escorted Gendron out of the courtroom.
Gendron also faces federal hate crimes charges
Gendron is also scheduled to appear in federal court this week after being indicted on 27 charges, including 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, three counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill and one additional hate crimes count, along with 13 counts of using, carrying or discharging a firearm.
He originally pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, but according to his attorneys, the gunman was willing to plead guilty to the federal charges if prosecutors agreed to spare him the death penalty, CNN reported in December.
The attorney general will decide at a later date on whether to seek the death penalty, according to the Justice Department. Gendron has been held without bail since his arrest after the May 2022 shooting.
Life without parole is New York's highest sentence
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said the judge will be required to sentence Gendron to life without parole for pleading guilty to the domestic terrorism charge.
New York does not have capital punishment, having formally abolished it in 2004.
Flynn also said Gendron is the first person in the state's history to plead guilty to that charge and that no one has yet been convicted of it either.
In a news conference after Gendron's pleas were made in November, Flynn called the case "a poster child for swift justice."
"This racist murderer did not accomplish what he set out to do. Because today, this community is stronger and better than it ever was. ... Love always conquers hate," Flynn said at the time.
Also in November, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told reporters it was emotional to be among those in the courtroom and hearing the pleas.
"It is important for this community to hear how these precious lives were snatched from us for no other reason than the color of their skin," Brown said.
Brown has also called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, citing the number of mass shootings nationwide since May. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit organization tracking gun violence, recorded 648 mass shootings in 2022. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
