Jurors convict Dylann Roof in church slayings

A federal jury has convicted Dylann Roof in the racially motivated slayings of nine black church members in South Carolina. The jury reached its verdict after less than two hours of deliberations. They convicted the 22-year-old white man of hate crimes and other charges.

They will reconvene next month to decide whether he should get the death penalty or be sentenced to life in prison. Roof just stared ahead as the verdict was read, much as he has throughout the trial.

3:15 p.m.

Jurors have reached a verdict in the federal death penalty trial of a man charged with killing nine black parishioners during Bible study at a South Carolina church.

The verdict will be announced soon on the guilt or innocence of 22-year-old Dylann Roof.

The jury of nine white people and three black people deliberated less than two hours before returning a verdict. Roof faces 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion.

If they find Roof guilty, the same jury will return Jan. 3 to consider if Roof should be sentenced to death for the June 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

He is slated to face another death penalty trial in state court early next year.

2:40 p.m.

The jury deciding whether Dylann Roof is guilty of killing nine black worshippers at a Charleston church wants to rehear part of his videotaped confession.

The jury sent a note to U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel about an hour into their deliberations asking to listen again to Roof being questioned and talking about how many people he might have killed.

Roof told FBI agents he killed about five people, and was later surprised when the agents told him nine people were shot and killed in June 2015 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church.

Gergel decided to set up the two-hour confession where jurors could watch as much or as little as they wanted to.

The jury is made up of nine whites and three blacks.

1:15 p.m.

It's now up to jurors to mull the guilt or innocence of a man charged with slaying nine black worshippers during Bible study at a South Carolina church.

Deliberations are getting underway Thursday afternoon in the case of Dylann Roof. He faces 33 federal charges including hate crimes.

Jurors heard from witnesses who testified Roof made multiple trips to Charleston in the months before the June 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church. They also heard from two survivors. Roof's attorneys called no witnesses.

Prosecutors said in their closing arguments Roof was filled with hate and has already confessed to the FBI to his role in the shootings. Defense attorneys portrayed Roof as a suicidal loner who never fully grasped the severity of what he has done.

The jury's decision must be unanimous. If Roof is convicted, the same panel will reconvene Jan. 3 to begin considering if he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.

11:35 a.m.

Dylann Roof's lawyer has asked jurors to consider what was going on in his head as he planned the killings of nine black worshippers in a racially motivated attack at a Charleston church.

Defense attorney David Bruck conceded in his closing argument Thursday that Roof killed the victims at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015 and even praised the FBI investigation.

But Bruck also argued Roof was a suicidal, impressionable loner who never grasped the gravity of what he did.

Prosecutors successfully objected to several of Bruck's arguments as he tried to argue Roof's mental status. A judge has ruled that talking about his mental state is reserved for the next phase when jurors - if they find Roof guilty - will decide he if faces the death penalty.

Roof has said he will act as his own attorney during that part of the trial.

10:50 a.m.

A prosecutor says the goodness of the victims who were slaughtered at a Charleston church has defeated Dylann Roof's message of racial hatred.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams said Thursday in his closing argument that jurors should have no doubt about Roof's guilt. He apologized before showing crime scene photos of the bodies with small pictures of each person when they were alive beside them.

Williams mocked Roof for calling his actions brave, saying the true bravery was in the black churchgoers who died trying to stop him.

Jurors will consider if Roof, who is white, is guilty of 33 charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of religion. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

10:05 a.m.

Federal prosecutors have started their closing argument in Dylann Roof's death penalty trial by saying the 22-year-old white man targeted nine black church members when they were most vulnerable.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams told jurors Thursday that Roof waited until the Bible study group had its eyes closed for prayer before Roof opened fire.

Williams said he was going to concentrate less on the evidence and more on Roof's hatred, cowardice and immense racial ignorance.

Williams says Roof believed black people were animals and less than human when he violated the sanctuary of the church and killed nine people on June 17, 2015, at Emanuel African Methodist Church.

Roof did not react to Williams' arguments.

Roof's attorneys will have a chance to make a closing argument.

3 a.m.

Jurors will likely soon be asked to decide if the man accused in the shooting deaths of nine black worshippers at a South Carolina church is guilty of federal hate crimes.

Closing arguments are expected when the jury arrives Thursday morning at Dylann Roof's death penalty trial. The judge will hand jurors the case a short time later.

Jurors will decide if Roof is guilty or not guilty of 33 separate charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of religion charges for each of the nine people killed and three who survived the June 2015 massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston.

If they find Roof guilty, the same jurors will return Jan. 3 for the next phase of the trial to determine if he's sentenced to death or life in prison

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