Atlanta spa shooting defendant pleads not guilty in death penalty case
CBSN
A man already sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to fatally shooting four people at a spa outside Atlanta pleaded not guilty to shooting four others on the same day at two spas inside the city. Six of the victims were Asian women.
Those killed outside Atlanta in Cherokee County were: Paul Michels, 54; Xiaojie "Emily" Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; and Delaina Yaun, 33. The Atlanta victims were: Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63.
In Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, District Attorney Fani Willis is seeking the death penalty as well as a sentencing enhancement under Georgia's new hate crimes law.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.