[ad_1]
Robert Aaron Long appeared in court in Atlanta after he had already admitted to killing four people in Cherokee County.
A man Already sentenced After pleading guilty to shooting four people at a massage parlor outside Atlanta, Georgia pleaded not guilty to shooting four others at two spas in the city on the same day.
On Tuesday, 22-year-old Robert Aaron Long pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, serious assault and domestic terrorism when he appeared in the Fulton County Superior Court.
Fani Willis, the District Attorney for Fulton County, is seeking the death penalty and increasing the sentence under the new hate crime law in Georgia. Willis said last month that she believes race and gender played a role in Dragon’s motivation.
In March, 8 people were killed in 3 massage parlours, and 6 of them were Asian women. Lang called himself the shooter in these attacks.
In July, Lang pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in nearby Cherokee County. He was sentenced to life imprisonment four times, plus 35 years.
Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace has said that if the case enters the trial stage, she is prepared to seek the death penalty and will argue that Long’s motive is gender bias, but investigators found no evidence that racial bias led to the killing.
Among those killed in Cherokee County were: 49-year-old Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 44-year-old Feng Daoyou, 54-year-old Paul Michels, and 33-year-old Delaina Yaun.
The victims in Atlanta were 69-year-old Suncha Kim, 74-year-old Soon Chung Park, 51-year-old Hyun Jung Grant, and 63-year-old Yong Ae Yao.
Georgia’s hate crime law does not provide for a separate hate crime. After a person has been convicted of a potential crime, the jury must determine whether the person was prejudiced, which will bring additional punishment.
Attacks on Asian Americans
The March attack came as Asian Americans faced an increase in hate crimes related to the coronavirus pandemic.Supporters have Demand justice It also warned against downplaying the role of race in the attack.
US President Joe Biden’s speech after the killing Link The attack set off a greater wave of anti-Asian sentiment in the country.
Lang told investigators that his motive was shame because of sexual impulse, not racial prejudice.
In July, at a court hearing in Cherokee County, Lang described how he bought a gun and a bottle of bourbon and planned to commit suicide.
Instead, he shot and killed five people at Youngs Asian Massage in Cherokee County. After that, he drove about 48 kilometers (30 miles) south to Atlanta, where he shot three women at Gold Spa and one woman across the street from Aromatherapy Spa, police said.
He then drove south on the interstate, and the authorities said he planned to carry out a similar attack in Florida.
However, Long’s parents called the police after they recognized their son in a security video posted online by Cherokee County authorities.
His parents have tracked his movements through an app on his phone, which allowed the authorities to find him and detain him on an interstate highway in southern Georgia.
[ad_2]
Source link