Georgia prosecutor to seek death penalty in spa killings

A Georgia prosecutor said on Tuesday she would seek the death penalty for the man accused of fatally shooting eight people at Atlanta-area spas, six of them women of Asian descent, saying the suspect committed hate crimes.

Robert Aaron Long, 22, was indicted on murder charges in the March 16 killings of four women in Fulton County, Georgia, as well as on aggravated assault and domestic terrorism charges, according to court documents.

He was previously charged with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in Cherokee County, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Atlanta.

In a court filing, Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis said Long had targeted four women in Atlanta because of their race, national origin and gender.

"Lady Justice in this community is blind," Willis told a news conference after her court filing. "It does not matter your ethnicity, it does not matter the side of the tracks you come from, it does not matter your wealth. You will be treated as an individual with value."

In a separate filing, Willis said she would seek the death penalty against Long.

"Death penalty cases are never easy. This is a long journey. And so the biggest hurdle will just be having stamina, but some journeys are worth taking," Willis said, adding she came to the decision after spending time with the families of the victims and reviewing the evidence.

A lawyer for Long did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March, Long told investigators a sex addiction drove him to commit the killings and indicated he frequented spas in the area.

Authorities initially declined to name racial animosity as the motive for the massacre, which sent shock waves through the Asian-American community, already rattled by a rise in hate crimes since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition that has tracked rising anti-Asian violence during the pandemic, commended the prosecutor's move, calling it "important" and stressing the broader need to address "the combination of racism and misogyny Asian American women experience" in the United States.

The bloodshed began with four people killed and another wounded at Young's Asian Massage in Cherokee County.

Two Asian-American women were among the dead there, along with a white woman and a white man.

An hour later in Atlanta, police officers responding to a robbery report arrived at the Gold Spa beauty salon to find three women shot dead.

The officers were then called to a separate spa across the street where another woman was found fatally shot.

All four women killed in Atlanta were of Asian descent.

Source: reuters.com, Linda So, May 12, 2021

🚩 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

François Mitterrand, the Justice Minister Who Sent 45 Men to the Guillotine

The socialist president celebrated for abolishing the death penalty in France sent 45 condemned men to the guillotine when he was Minister of Justice. In French political history, François Mitterrand is the father of the historic victory of May 1981. He remains associated with one of the greatest moral laws of the Fifth Republic: the definitive end of capital executions, carried through with Robert Badinter in the autumn of 1981.

Medical experts shocked by Tennessee team’s ‘malpractice’ in Christa Pike’s failed execution

New details of IV team’s attempts to find a vein shared by Pike’s lawyer ‘shocked and disturbed’ practitioners Medical experts have expressed shock at the apparent incompetence shown by Tennessee’s execution team during the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike , the prisoner who survived a normally fatal dose of pentobarbital, which they say would be considered medical malpractice in any other setting.

Texas | Jury recommends death penalty for man convicted of killing San Benito police lieutenant

A Cameron County jury recommended the death penalty for Rogelio Martinez for killing a San Benito police lieutenant during a police chase in Brownsville. Martinez stared forward as the judge announced the recommendation. Lt. Milton Resendez's family told Martinez in court that their lives will never be the same. Resendez's wife and siblings walked past cameras and declined to speak with reporters. Inside the courtroom, where no audio or video recording was allowed, Resendez's sister Jackie raised her voice at Martinez during impact statements.

Alabama | Brian Martin sentenced to death in killing of Sheffield Sgt. Nick Risner

Brian Lansing Martin was sentenced to death Monday for killing Sheffield Police Sgt. Nick Risner, whose death prompted Alabama lawmakers to restrict early-release credits for inmates convicted of killing someone with a deadly weapon. A Colbert County judge formally imposed the sentence Oct. 26, following a jury’s unanimous recommendation in September, WAFF reported. “Today’s sentence represents justice and accountability for the murder of Sergeant Nick Risner,” Colbert County District Attorney Hal Hughston said in a statement quoted by the station.

Florida | Bunnell man sentenced to death for fatally stabbing wife outside their home in 2024

A Flagler County judge sentenced Jermaine Mandell Williams Sr. to death Monday for stabbing his wife outside their Bunnell home in 2024. Williams, 34, was convicted of 1st-degree murder in July. Jurors deliberated about 20 minutes before finding him guilty and later voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty. The attack happened Aug. 2, 2024. Surveillance video and testimony showed Williams went inside the home, returned with an 8-inch chef’s knife and attacked his wife, Yolonda Charmaine Williams, in the street, according to court and prosecution accounts. She was stabbed 19 to 20 times and later died at a hospital.

Indiana Parole Board hears testimony on clemency for man scheduled for Nov. 5 execution

Jeffrey Weisheit set his house on fire in 2010, killing his girlfriend’s two young children he was watching. The Indiana Parole Board will now make a recommendation in the coming days to Governor Mike Braun on whether to grant clemency to condemned killer Jeffrey Weisheit. Jeffrey is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 5 for the 2010 murder of his girlfriend's 2 children in Vanderburgh County.

The execution of 2 Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia explained

What we know about the executions of Suety Akhter and Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir in Saudi Arabia and the diplomatic fallout it's created Clutching a picture of his daughter, Fazal Mia is still in shock that he was not told that his child, Suety Akhter, would be executed in Saudi Arabia. After leaving Bangladesh to work in the Gulf kingdom, Akhter sent money home for the first 5 months before calling her family one day to say she had been imprisoned. The family then found out from news reports that their daughter was handed the death penalty, alongside another Bangladeshi citizen, Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir.

Florida executes William Reaves

Florida puts 77-year-old man to death for a deputy's killing in its 18th execution this year Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year on Tuesday under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ aggressive use of the death penalty in his final term. William Reaves, 77, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting death of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski.

Saudi Arabia executes woman, 'terrorists', 'indecent' couple, and juvenile offenders

Saudi Arabia carried out a series of executions in mid-October, including that of a woman convicted of killing her mother and attempting to kill her sister, alongside five men in the Eastern Province. Official statements described the five as terrorists; human rights groups described them as political prisoners sentenced under discretionary (ta’zir) penalties, one of whom was a child at the time of the alleged acts. The cases illustrate the kingdom’s continued use of the death penalty under Sharia, its stated commitment to public order and justice, and criticism from human rights organizations over the scope of capital punishment.

Florida | William Reaves set to be executed on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m.

With his execution date looming, convicted killer William Reaves will soon be moved from Raiford's Union Correctional Institution to a death watch cell in nearby Florida State Prison, a maximum-security complex also known as "The Rock." Reaves, 77, a former Gifford resident in Indian River County who’s been on death row for 38 years, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. His execution will fulfill a sentence of death imposed for the 1986 fatal shooting of Indian River County Sheriff’s Cpl. Richard “Raz” Raczkoski outside a Zippy Mart store on State Road 60 west of Vero Beach.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog