Nine African-American churchgoers were brutally shot to death during the concluding prayer of their evening Bible study on June 17, 2015, at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The man who shot them, Dylann Roof, fled the scene and was arrested a couple of days after the horrific mass shooting.
Roof was sentenced to death on Jan. 10, 2017, and then life in prison without parole as well a couple of months later on April 10, 2017. Roof has sought to appeal his death sentence after arguing that the court did not thoroughly vet if he was mentally sound. He claimed that his competency to stand trial relied too heavily on one psychologist’s evaluation.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit voted unanimously to uphold the death penalty for Roof.
“His crimes qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose. We have reached that conclusion not as a product of emotion but through a thorough analytical process,” the Court of Appeals decision read in part.
Roof’s legal team can take their case to the Supreme Court if they wish to appeal the penalty again, but his team has not yet publicly stated if that is what they plan to do.
Winthrop students are divided among whether the death penalty was the appropriate sentence for Roof.
“No one should ever be forced to be killed no matter how bad of a crime. There are other alternatives to resolving the issue rather than continuing the cycle of death,” said KJ Adams, junior theatre performance major.
However other students view the issue differently.
“I think it is appropriate to have Roof serve that penalty. While the community of the church is centered on forgiveness and rebuilding, Roof was not put on the right path, and I would never feel comfortable with him gaining his freedom and citizenship back, as he does not deserve it,” said Logan Szyjkowski, freshman music education major.
Members of those lost during the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting have been vocal in the past about the pain they still feel, six years later.
State Rep. JA Moore, who lost his sister, Myra Thompson, in the shooting, said since the court’s decision, “It is still just as shocking, just as egregious, just as hurtful, just as painful as it was six years ago.”
Winthrop students, family members and friends of those lost in this tragedy are united in their belief that justice is being served.
“Overall, yes I feel justice is being served, but I wish there was another method,” Adams said.
Once the decision was released, Moore stated: “Too often in this country for marginalized people, especially Black and brown folks, the criminal justice system has not been favorable to us. Fortunately in this situation with the tragic, barbaric murder of my sister and eight other lives, the justice system has been working,” according to The State.
Even with the news of the upholding of the decision that was met with joy for those who lost family and friends as well as a grief-stricken community, the loss that has filled their lives for the past six years still remains and will continue to be there even with the glimmer of hope that comes with decisions like these.
