Jury selection begins in federal hate crimes trial for Buffalo supermarket shooter

Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the federal hate crimes trial of Payton Gendron, who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022. Gendron already serves a life sentence after pleading guilty to state murder charges last year. The federal trial will determine whether he receives the death penalty.

Gendron faces over two dozen federal hate crime charges and more than a dozen firearms charges. His defense team will not dispute guilt but will present mitigating evidence to spare him from execution. The federal public defender's office stated Gendron will die in prison regardless of the verdict.

“I really think that he should just sit and have to think about it year after year after year and just be miserable.”

Victims' families hold differing views on capital punishment. Wayne Jones, whose mother Celestine Chaney was killed, opposes the death penalty, preferring Gendron spend decades in prison. Buffalo Council member Zeneta Everhart, whose son survived, said she is not categorically opposed given the egregious nature of the attack.

The 2022 shooting at Tops Friendly Market is considered the deadliest hate-motivated attack targeting Black people by a lone gunman in the last century. Three people survived the attack, including Everhart's son Zaire, now 25.