South Carolina

Dylann Roof's sentencing has the feel of memorial to victims

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - This undated photo that appeared on Lastrhodesian.com, a website investigated by the FBI in connection with Dylann Roof, shows him posing for a photo holding a Confederate flag. During Dylan Roof's sentencing for friends and family members walked up to the witness stand and testified about the nine black church members gunned down during a Bible study. The testimony came during the sentencing phase of Dylann Roof's death penalty trial. (Lastrhodesian.com via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE -In this Friday, June 19, 2015 file photo, Walter Jackson holds a photo of his mother Susie Jackson, one of the nine people killed in Wednesday's shooting at Emanuel AME Church by Dylan Roof, as he stands on his front porch, in Charleston, S.C. During Dylan Roof's sentencing for friends and family members walked up to the witness stand and testified about the nine black church members gunned down during a Bible study. The testimony came during the sentencing phase of Dylann Roof's death penalty trial. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE-In this Friday, June 19, 2015 file photo, Najee Washington holds a photo of her grandmother Ethel Lance, one of the nine people killed in Wednesday's shooting at Emanuel AME Church, by Dylan Roof, as she poses for a portrait outside her home, in Charleston, S.C. "She cared for everyone.During Dylan Roof's sentencing for friends and family members walked up to the witness stand and testified about the nine black church members gunned down during a Bible study. The testimony came during the sentencing phase of Dylann Roof's death penalty trial. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) (The Associated Press)

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.