BUFFALO, N.Y. — The white teenager who killed 10 Black people and injured three others at a supermarket in Buffalo has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Payton Gendron appeared in Erie County Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty in November to state charges that included murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. The terrorism charge carries an automatic life sentence. Investigators say the attack was fueled by racist conspiracy theories he encountered online.
Gendron read a brief statement, acknowledging he “shot and killed people because they were Black.”
"I believed what I read online and acted out of hate, and now I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me,” he said. One woman in the audience stood up, screamed “we don’t need" his remarks and stormed out of the courtroom.
Judge Susan Eagan then handed down the sentence, where she read each charge and the name of the victims.
Because of Gendron's age at the time of the shooting, there was a question over whether youthful offender status would be considered. Judge Eagan adamantly rejected that possibility.
"There was nothing hasty or thoughtless about your conduct. There are no mitigating factors to be considered," Judge Eagan said. “There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful, evil ideologies. There can be no mercy for you, no second chances. You will never see the light of day as a free man again.”
Gendron received additional, consecutive sentences for those who were injured and survived. The judge imposed the maximum sentence, 25 years in prison, for each of them.
During the proceedings, Gendron was briefly taken out of the courtroom after someone in the audience rushed at him and was restrained by a court officer. The charged moment came as Barbara Massey Mapps excoriated him for killing her 72-year-old sister, Katherine Massey. As Mapps shouted and pointed at Gendron, a person in the audience took a few steps toward him before being held back.
“You don’t know what we’re going through,” a man shouted as he was led away by court officers. For several minutes thereafter, family members hugged and calmed each other.
After about 10 minutes, Judge Eagan ordered Gendron back in and let the proceeding resume, admonishing everyone to “conduct ourselves appropriately.”
“I understand that emotion, and I understand the anger, but we cannot have that in the courtroom,” she said.
Moments earlier, Kimberly Salter, the widow of security guard Aaron Salter, explained why she and her family were wearing black and red.
“Red for the blood that he shed for his family and for his community, and black because we are still grieving,” she said as her husband's killer, Gendron, looked directly at her from the defense table.
The only child of victim Celestine Chaney, Wayne Jones Jr., delivered harsh criticism of Gendron's actions.
“I watched you kill my mom … shoot her once … reload … and shoot again," said Jones. "I don’t wish the death penalty for you. I wish they’d keep you alive so you have to suffer with what you did. To me, killing you is the easy way out.
"You’ve been brainwashed," Jones added. "You don’t even know Black people that much to hate them. You learned this on the internet, and it was a big mistake. “I hope you find it in your heart to apologize to these people, man. You did wrong for no reason."
Brian Talley appeared in court on behalf of victim Geraldine Talley. He opened by saying Gendron’s name, saying it should be known.
“You came into the strongest part of the Black community and you ripped us apart,” Talley said. “How can you possibly stand up here and say that you’re sorry? You planned it.”
Tamika Harper, a niece of Geraldine Talley, said she hoped Gendron would pray for forgiveness.
“Do I hate you? No. Do I want you to die? No. I want you to stay alive. I want you to think about this every day of your life,” she said, speaking gently. “Think about my family and the other nine families that you’ve destroyed forever.”
Gendron locked eyes with Harper as she spoke, then lowered his head and cried.
Andre Mackniel was killed while buying a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son.
“He was blindsided ... at the hands of a selfish boy who’s obviously not educated on the history of African Americans,” daughter Deja Brown said. Her uncle, Vyonne Elliott, said the boy still calls for a father he'll never see again.
Christopher Braden, a Tops Friendly Market employee who was shot in the leg, said he was haunted by seeing the victims where they lay as he was carried out of the store.
“The visions haunt me in my sleep and every day,” he said.
Gendron, now 19, wore bullet-resistant armor and a helmet equipped with a livestreaming camera as he carried out the May 14 attack. He killed his victims with a semiautomatic rifle, purchased legally but then modified so he could load it with high-capacity ammunition magazines that are illegal in New York.
There were only three survivors after he shot 13 people, specifically seeking out Black shoppers and workers.
His victims at Tops Friendly Market included a church deacon, the grocery store's guard, a neighborhood activist, a man shopping for a birthday cake, a grandmother of nine and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner. The victims ranged in age from 32 to 86.
In documents posted online, Gendron said he hoped the attack would help preserve white power in the U.S. He wrote that he picked the Tops grocery store, about a three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York, because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
While Gendron has already been handed a life sentence, he also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the U.S. Justice Department chooses to seek it.
Gendron's admission of guilt on the state charges is seen as a potential help in avoiding a death sentence in the penalty phase of any federal trial. In a December hearing, defense attorney Sonya Zoghlin said Gendron is prepared to enter a guilty plea in federal court in exchange for a life sentence.
The mass shooting in Buffalo, and another less than two weeks later that killed 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school, amplified calls for stronger gun controls, including from victims’ relatives who traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before lawmakers.
New York legislators quickly passed a law banning semiautomatic rifle sales to most people under the age of 21. The state also banned sales of some types of body armor.
President Joe Biden signed a compromise gun violence bill in June intended to toughen background checks, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws making it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.