Defense says Tops mass shooter should be exempt from death penalty
0
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The case against the Tops mass shooter was back in federal court Friday and the defense argued it should be unconstitutional for Payton Gendron to receive the death penalty because of his age.
The public defenders representing Gendron say because the Tops mass shooter was 18 at the time of the attack, he should be exempt from the death penalty.
They brought up a Supreme Court case from 2005 on Friday, where the justices ruled the death penalty is unconstitutional for those who committed crimes when they were under 18 years old. The defense is now asking for an evidentiary hearing to argue that this should be expanded to those who committed their crimes at 18.
Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Zaire Goodman, who was shot but survived on May 14, 2022, has said she wants a trial so that the evidence of what happened that day is put on record.
"The judge was asking for hypotheticals. I don't think they're gonna come in here and argue the actual case," she said. "So, I don't know that that would help what I'm pushing for. What I'm pushing for is the facts of this case, the actual case to come out into the public and be recorded in history books."
The government argued against the evidentiary hearing as well as the defenses's push to drop the death penalty as a result of age. One prosecutor told Judge Lawrence Vilardo this would be a Supreme Court issue because they made the ruling in the first place.
Judge Vilardo reserved his decision. It's unclear when we could get answers.
Marlee Tuskes is an award-winning anchor and reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2019. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.