The mother of accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof suffered a heart attack after hearing heart-wrenching testimony in his federal murder trial, a defense lawyer said.
Roof's mother collapsed and said "I'm sorry" several times on Wednesday as family members and court officers rushed to help her, attorney David Bruck related in court records. NBC News reported that the mother's current condition was not included in the documents, through which Bruck asked for a mistrial in the case.
Bruck cited emotional testimony by survivor Felicia Sanders, in which she called Roof “evil” and said that “there’s no place on Earth for him other than the pit of hell.” Bruck’s request, which argued that Sanders’ comments could be considered an opinion on Roof’s potential punishment, was denied.
Sanders and her 11-year-old granddaughter were two of just three survivors of the June 17, 2015, shooting inside the historic Emanuel AME Church. She testified Wednesday about watching her son and aunt gunned down, along with seven others attending Bible study the night of the slayings.
Jurors on Thursday saw graphic images of the bloody scene inside the church, including 360-degree image scans that showed bodies lying on a tile floor smeared with blood, the Post and Courier reported. The floor was littered with shell casings and empty magazines from Roof's gun, which he allegedly brought into the Bible study session in a fanny pack.
The crime scene photos showed that Tywanza Sanders died as he crawled toward his great-aunt, 87-year-old Susie Jackson, in an effort to save her, the Post and Courier reported. He died with his outstretched hand touching Jackson’s hair.
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Jurors also learned how many times each victim was shot. The newspaper reported that Jackson was struck the most, with 11 shots to her body.
Several of the congregants died huddled under or near the tables where, moments before, they had studied the Bible alongside Roof, who the Rev. Clementa Pinckney had welcomed and asked to sit next to him during the session.
Crime scene technicians recovered 74 shell casings from the scene, and pathologists pulled 54 bullets from the bodies on autopsy, the Post and Courier said.
The newspaper reported that jurors on Friday would hear Roof’s taped confession to authorities after his capture. The self-described white supremacist was caught the day after the shooting in North Carolina.
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