BUFFALO — A federal judge has rejected a motion by convicted mass shooter Payton Gendron.
Gendron, convicted in state court of murdering 10 Black people at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo on May 14, 2022, requested that the court remove the death penalty as a potential sentence in his federal trial. United States District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo denied that request Tuesday.
His attorneys argued that the U.S. Attorney's Office used the grand jury process to compel what they considered irrelevant evidence, including questions regarding his "learning, physical, emotional, or mental disabilities" and "whether he seemed racist," according to Vilardo's court filing.
Vilardo said the defense failed to show that the questioning and answers during the grand jury proceedings "influenced the decision by the United States Attorney General to authorize the death penalty."
Gendron's attorneys have said he would consider pleading guilty to federal charges if he doesn't have to face the death penalty. He has already pleaded guilty in state court to multiple murder and domestic terrorism charges. There is no death penalty in New York State.
