Judge Susan Eagan ordered Payton Gendron to prison to serve a sentence of life without any possibility of parole. But she had choice words for the man as she was sealing his fate. “There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful and evil ideologies in a civilized society,” she stated (per Axios). “There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances. The damage you have caused is too great, and the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community.
Before Eagan handed down Gendron’s sentence, she gave friends and loved ones of the many victims an opportunity to address the courtroom. Some of these individuals took this as a chance to tell the defendant just how devastating his actions were. Barbara Massey Mapps, whose elderly sister was killed by Gendron in the racially motivated massacre, admonished the convicted killer and told him that he had taken away her “best friend” (via Yahoo News). Another man wasn’t about to wait his turn to speak. While Mapps was still giving her emotional impact statement, the unidentified man charged past her in an attempt to get at Gendron. “You don’t know what we’re going through,” he was heard saying as court officers escorted him out of the room.
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Gendron’s days in court are not finished. In June of last year, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland charged the shooter with 27 federal charges, including 14 hate crime counts and 13 weapons violations (via WKBW). If convicted, he could be sentenced to death in a federal court.
