Charleston church shooting suspect Dylann Storm Roof is escorted from the Cleveland County Courthouse in Shelby, N.C. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
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Jurors reach unanimous decision in Dylann Roof church massacre trial
December 15, 2016
After slightly more than two hours of deliberations, a federal jury found Dylann Roof guilty in the 2015 slaying of nine Charleston church members.
Sentencing will come later, but on Thursday, Roof was found guilty on all 33 charges he faced — among them, nine counts of hate crimes resulting in death and three counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill. He was also found guilty of all religious obstruction charges by the jury made up of nine white people and three black people.
"It is my hope that the survivors, the families and the people of South Carolina can find some peace in the fact that justice has been served," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said in a statement following the verdict.
Roof, 22, walked into Emanuel AME church in June 2015 and fatally gunned down nine black churchgoers who were attending a Bible study at the church — but not before he sat among them for almost an hour.
As WIS-TV's Chad Mill's pointed out, an black clerk read the verdict while Roof appeared motionless.
The same jury is expected to reconvene on Jan. 3 to determine whether Roof will be sentenced to death or serve life in prison. As WYFF-TV reported, the young white man also faces another death penalty trial in a state court next year.
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