CHARLESTON, S.C. _ Dylann Roof, a white supremacist from the Columbia area, pleaded guilty on Monday to nine murder charges in state court for the slayings of nine victims at an African-American church in Charleston.
Under the plea agreement, he was sentenced to nine sentences of life in prison, to be spent in a federal prison, as he awaits his death sentence after being found guilty in federal court in December on murder and hate crime charges. He also pleaded guilty to three attempted murder charges and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Survivors and family members of those killed were allowed to address Judge J.C. Nicholson before the sentence was handed down.
The Rev. Eric Manning of Mother Emanuel AME explained the deep cut the killings made in the congregation. "Mother Emanuel has been a place where several of the victims' families and survivors have come together and prayed together. ... We visit the crime scene every day.
"We would indulge and encourage this court to just remember that the church as well as the families and the survivors have paid a dear and deep price." He later added: "Hate will never win."
State Sen. Gerald Malloy spoke on behalf of the family of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the first victim killed. Pinckney served in the state Senate with Malloy.
Malloy read a statement from Jennifer Pinckney, Clementa Pinckney's widow: "It is our hope that everyone finds peace."
Melvin Graham spoke on behalf of his family about the death of his sister, Cynthia Hurd. "This situation has tested our faith in every way possible. But I'm glad to say that we're still holding on."
Graham read a letter Hurd sent about what was special about Easter: "'It reminds me that death is not forever, and it reminds me that we will be reunited one day again.'"
Myra Thompson's sister, Blondell Gadsden, told the judge: "I want to say again to Dylann Roof that even though we are at a point where death has been the sentence for him, my heart still goes out to him in hopes that he will repent to save himself from himself."
Susie Jackson's sister, Eva Dilligard, took a different route. She said Roof should get death. "I'm very sorry. I'm a child of God. But he hurt the entire family."
Roof's attorney said Roof's mother was not in court, adding that she fell ill during the federal trial. He said later: "She has expressed to me her love of her son."
Roof's paternal grandfather, Joe Roof of Columbia, told the judge: "I want everyone to understand that nothing is all bad. And Dylann is not all bad. ... We have been distressed and just sick over what has happened to these families who have been represented here today. It's been a situation where I never thought it could happen _ anything like this."
"What happened here, I will never understand," Joe Roof continued. "I will go to my grave not understanding what happened other than I lost the grandson that I love and likely today is the last time that I will see him. I'm just aching to hold him and hug him as I did when he was a tot."
Nicholson and 9th Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said they hope Roof's guilty plea will bring closure to the families of the victims.
Nicholson accepted each murder and attempted murder charge separately, and the nine life sentences were imposed.
Roof mostly likely will be transferred to a high-security prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where federal death row is located, said Andy Savage, a Charleston lawyer who represents families of the victims as well as the three survivors.
Roof _ who turned 23 earlier this month _ was set to face a state trial this spring for the June 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church.
Roof opened fire on 12 people, killing nine of them, after sitting through a Wednesday night bible study with the small group. His racist viewpoints were discovered later in an online manifesto and echoed during his federal trial. He chose Emanuel AME because it is one of the country's oldest black congregations and he wanted to start a race war, he told the FBI in a videotaped confession.
Wilson announced Roof's state plea agreement March 31.
