Prosecutor: Church shooting suspect to face death penalty

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The white man accused of killing nine black churchgoers during Bible study in what authorities said was a racially motivated crime will face a death-penalty trial, even though not all the victims' families agree with capital punishment, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said Thursday some crimes are so heinous, they require the most serious punishment the state can give.

"This was the ultimate crime, and justice from our state calls for the ultimate punishment," Wilson said, reading a three-minute statement outside her Charleston office. She took no questions.

Before her statement, Wilson filed paperwork saying she would seek the death penalty against 21-year-old Dylann Roof. Her reasons: More than two people were killed, and others' lives were put at risk.

Roof is charged under U.S. hate-crime laws as well, and federal prosecutors haven't decided whether they will seek the death penalty.

Federal authorities have said Roof wrote online of fomenting racial violence and used racial slurs in a personal manuscript in which he decried integration.

Survivors also told police he used racial insults during the attack.

Wilson said she understands the desire of some victims' families to forgive Roof, and some do not believe in the death penalty, but she said forgiveness doesn't eliminate the consequences of Roof's actions.

"Making such a weighty decision is an awesome responsibility," Wilson said. "People who have already been victimized should not bear the burden of making the decisions on behalf of an entire community.

"They shouldn't have to weigh the concerns of other people. They shouldn't have to consider the facts of the case."

Roof's lawyers did not respond to Wilson's decision.