Jury selection will begin Tuesday, Oct. 13, in the federal death penalty case against Payton Gendron, the white supremacist responsible for a 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.
Gendron, 23, has already admitted to state charges of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism. He is serving 11 concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole ― one for the terrorism charge and one for each of the 10 people he killed in the May 14, 2022 attack at Tops Friendly Markets.
A panel of federal jurors, however, will decide early next year if Gendron should be sentenced to death for his crimes.
What charges does Payton Gendron face in federal court?
The U.S. Department of Justice announced in 2024 it would seek the death penalty against Gendron. He faces 27 federal charges, including hate
crimes and weapons crimes resulting in death.
Gendron, who is from Conklin, New York, located in the state's Southern Tier, spent months planning the massacre, detailing his racist ideology in an online manifesto. He scouted out the Tops grocery store several times before the attack and chose the location 200 miles away from his hometown because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo.
On May 14, 2022, Gendron entered Tops with bullet-resistant armor, a helmet with a live-streaming camera and a semiautomatic rifle. He shot 13 shoppers and workers; only three survived.
Federal prosecutors previously said the hatred Gendron displayed toward the Black community factored into their decision to pursue the death penalty. Court records show prosecutors plan to play 911 calls, police body-worn camera footage and surveillance videos during trial.
Defense attorneys for Gendron previously said he would be willing to plead guilty to the federal crimes if prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. His team plans to call four experts to testify on Gendron's "mental condition on the issue of punishment."
Relatives of the victims have long expressed mixed views around the capital punishment case.
How long will jury selection take?
More than 1,000 prospective jurors filled out questionnaires for the court this summer. From those, attorneys from both sides agreed to strike about 500. That leaves about half of the jury pool available for in-person questioning by the judge and lawyers this month.
Under federal law, prosecutors and defense attorneys are each entitled to 20 peremptory strikes, meaning they may dismiss a juror candidate without stating a specific reason. Through questioning, the court will also attempt to remove prospective jurors with a hard stance for or against the death penalty in this case.
Jury selection is expected to take six to eight weeks, putting opening arguments for the trial into December at the earliest. The trial will consist of two phases: A trial phase, to determine guilt, and a penalty phase.
― Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jury selection begins in death penalty case for Buffalo mass shooter
