BUFFALO, N.Y. — The white gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo last May is set to be sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to murder and terrorism motivated by hate charges back in November.
Payton Gendron, 19, is scheduled to be in Erie County Court Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. where loved ones of the victims he killed will have the opportunity to address him for the first time. Gendron will also have the chance to respond.
Those killed ranged in age from 32 to 86 and included an armed security guard died trying to protect customers, a church deacon and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner. Gendron surrendered when police confronted him as he emerged from the store.
Gendron said in documents posted online just before the attack that he chose the store, about a three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York, because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood. He said he was motivated by a belief in a massive conspiracy to dilute the power of white people by “replacing” them in the U.S. with people of color.
Defense attorney Paul Cambria is not on the case, but said if Gendron apologizes, it could be part of a strategy, as the shooter could still face the death penalty in federal proceedings.
“I think that’s another phase of this, if you will, to say things tomorrow and take responsibility, apologize to the family members and so on, in the hopes that the federal side will not go for the death penalty," said Cambria.
Cambria said due to the federal execution moratorium, if Gendron is put on death row, he would wait there until a Republican presidential administration.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.