CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on the federal sentencing of convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof (all times local):
11:30 a.m.
Prosecutors have rested their death penalty case against Dylann Roof after four days of testimony.
The government called its final witnesses Monday.
Three relatives of Tywanza Sanders testified. The 26-year-old Sanders the youngest victim of the June 2015 shootings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
Father Tyrone Sanders said he missed taking fishing trips and homecoming visits with his son. Felicia Sanders, who survived the attack during a Bible study session, said her son was a creative young man who was dedicated to Emanuel.
Roof is representing himself and did not cross-examine any witnesses. He has said he won’t call any witnesses, but the judge granted Roof’s request for a recess after the government rested its case.
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10 a.m.
The big sister of the youngest victim killed in the 2015 attack on Emanuel AME Church describes her baby brother as a jack-of-all-trades who had a variety of interests including music and modeling.
Shirrene Goss on Monday called 26-year-old brother Tywanza Sanders a fearless, headstrong social butterfly.
Goss took the stand as one of the final witnesses called by prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Dylann Roof. Jurors convicted Roof last month of 33 federal charges, including hate crimes and obstruction of the practice of religion.
Prosecutors plan to finish their case Monday, and jurors are likely to begin deliberations Tuesday. Roof is representing himself and has said he’ll mount no case in his own defense, calling no witnesses and doing no cross-examination.
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5:35 a.m.
Final testimony is expected as prosecutors wrap up their argument that Dylann Roof should be sentenced to death for the South Carolina church shootings.
Relatives of Tywanza Sanders are slated to be the last to testify Monday in Roof’s federal sentencing trial.
Last week, family members of the nine black parishioners slain in the June 2015 attack on Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church told emotional stories of the voids left by the loss of their loved ones.
Roof is representing himself and has said he plans to call no witnesses in his own defense. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel says he expects jurors to begin deliberating as early as Tuesday on whether Roof should get the death penalty or life in prison.
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