() — Payton Gendron, the perpetrator of the Buffalo Tops supermarket shooting that killed 10 people, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison, without parole.
“You will never see the light of day again as a free man,” Judge Susan Eagan said.
Payton Gendron, a 19-year-old white male, had pleaded guilty to one count of hate-motivated domestic terrorism, 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of weapons possession in the mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on May 14.
Earlier, Gendron had read the following statement before the court:
“I am very sorry for all the pain I have caused the victims and their families to suffer. I am so sorry I stole the lives of your loved ones. I cannot express how sorry I am for all the decisions I made prior to my actions on May 14. I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back, but I wish I could. And I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”
A woman in the audience wailed in pain and screamed after Gendron finished speaking. She left the courtroom. Gendron was seen sobbing through her statement.
“We don’t need any of that m…!” a woman was heard screaming.
During Wednesday’s hearing, several relatives of the victims spoke through tears about how the mass shooting had changed their lives. At one point, Gendron took off his glasses and began to cry.
Payton Gendron was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
During one such victim statement, a man in a gray sweatshirt lunged at Gendron, but security quickly blocked him and dragged Gendron out of the courtroom.
After a short break, Gendron returned to the courtroom and Erie County Judge Susan Eagan restarted the hearing.
“We can’t have these types of situations in the courtroom,” Eagan said. “We must behave appropriately because we are all better than that.”
Relatives of victims remember their loved ones
Many of the victims’ relatives expressed during the hearing their wish that Gendron be sentenced to life in prison, instead of the death penalty, so that he would have to deal with his thoughts for the rest of his life.
The attempted attack by one of them came during a particularly intense statement by Barbara Massey, the sister of Katherine Massey, a 72-year-old woman who was killed in the attack. “I want to personally choke you,” Massey said before the incident. “You little (…) who decided to come here to kill black people.”
Others offered their memories of loved ones and criticism of Gendron’s violent actions and hateful ideology.
Relatives of victims of the shooting at a Buffalo supermarket gave their testimony during the sentencing in which Payton Gendron was sentenced to life in prison.
“I hope one day you find it in your heart to apologize to those families,” Wayne Jones, Celestine Chaney’s son, said in court.
“I pray to God they don’t kill you,” said Brian Talley, a relative of shooting victim Geraldine Talley. “You need to be known throughout the world… I forgive you, but I don’t forgive you for your sake, but for mine and the black community.”
Christopher Braden, who said he was shot in the leg, said he saw bodies on the floor as he was taken from the supermarket to the hospital.
“Visions haunt me every day,” Braden said, adding that she continues to suffer from night terrors and post-traumatic stress disorder from the shooting.
Zeneta Everhart, whose son Zaire Goodman was shot and wounded, said her son bears survivor’s guilt.
“She’s dealing with pain that I, as a mother, can’t handle,” Everhart said. “On that day, this terrorist made the decision that a black person meant nothing to him…whatever sentence he received. [Gendron] receive, it will never be enough”.
Michelle Spight, who lost her aunt and cousin in the shooting, said she expects Gendron to be haunted every day and night. “You came to Buffalo with hate and anger in your heart,” Spight said, also speaking on behalf of her other family members.
how we got here
The shooting traumatized the predominantly black neighborhood of Masten Park in East Buffalo. The area was a food desert and Tops Friendly Markets was the only supermarket in the neighborhood.
On the afternoon of May 14, Gendron turned the community’s wellspring into a crime scene.
Gendron was heavily armed and wearing tactical gear, including a helmet and silver body armor, police said at the time. He also live-streamed his actions through a body camera.
Using an illegally modified semi-automatic rifle, the shooter shot four people outside the grocery store, three of whom died. He continued the massacre inside the store, fatally shooting an armed security guard and eight other people, six of whom did not survive.
Police at Top Market, the day of the shooting, in Buffalo, New York. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
After the carnage, the supermarket was closed for two months. But when it reopened, there was still a feeling of fear.
The supermarket underwent renovations, returned with added safety and security measures, and built a memorial for the victims of the shooting inside the store, it reported last year.
Security measures included enhanced video monitoring systems, an audiovisual emergency evacuation alarm system, the installation of additional emergency exits, and increased professional security both inside and outside the store.
The shooter still faces federal charges and a possible death penalty.
Gendron shot a total of 13 people, including 11 blacks and two whites, authorities said. All the murdered victims were black.
Prosecutors have argued that the horror that unfolded both inside and outside the supermarket was rooted in Gendron’s racism towards black people. The evidence included social media posts and a lengthy document written by Gendron, which reveals that he had planned the attack and that he visited the supermarket several times before the massacre.
gendron public that he chose the Tops market as his target because it was located in the 14208 ZIP code in Buffalo, which is home to the highest percentage of black people close enough to where he lived in Conklin, New York.
In the document, he attributed most of his beliefs to the Internet and described himself as a fascist, a white supremacist and an anti-Semite.
The charges against him included the first use of the New York figure of “hate-motivated terrorism” since it became available in 2020 under state law.
Federally, Gendron faces 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, three counts of hate crimes involving bodily harm, 10 counts of using a firearm to commit murder during and in connection with a crime of violence, and three counts of using and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, according to a criminal complaint.
“Gendron’s motive for the mass shooting was to prevent blacks from replacing whites and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks,” states the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors with the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
Gendron has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, which carry the possibility of the death penalty.
In December, Gendron’s lawyers said during a court hearing that he would be willing to plead guilty to the federal charges if prosecutors agreed to waive the death penalty.
‘s Sonia Moghe, Ray Sanchez and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.
