CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Latest on the federal sentencing trial of convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof (all times local):
8:40 a.m.
More emotional testimony is expected from family members of some of the people killed in the June 2015 slaughter at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
Federal prosecutors say they plan Friday to present testimony from relatives of Cynthia Hurd, Ethel Lance and Susie Jackson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson said the government could wrap up its case against Dylann Roof on Monday with the family of Tywanza Sanders.
The federal government is seeking the death penalty for Roof, convicted last month in the nine shooting deaths. Roof has put up no case arguing he should get life in prison, cross-examining no witnesses and saying he plans to call none of his own.
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3:35 a.m.
One by one, friends and family members walked up to the witness stand and testified about the nine black church members gunned down during a Bible study in Charleston on June 17, 2015. They described personalities, future plans and final conversations.
The testimony came during the sentencing phase of Dylann Roof's death penalty trial. The same jury that convicted the 22-year-old white man of hate crimes and other charges will decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or death.
Roof faces murder charges in state court, where his trial had been slated to start later this month. But a state judge Thursday delayed that trial indefinitely because federal proceedings are ongoing.
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