Justice Department to pursue death penalty against Buffalo supermarket shooter Payton Gendron

The Justice Department said Friday in a court filing it will seek the death penalty for Payton Gendron, who killed 10 people at a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo in May 2022.

The Justice Department said Friday in a court filing it will seek the death penalty for Payton Gendron, the then-19-year-old who killed 10 people in a racially motivated shooting at a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022.

“United States believes the circumstances in Counts 11-20 of the Indictment are such that, in the event of a conviction, a sentence of death is justified,” the filing said.

Lawyers for Gendron previously said he would consider pleading guilty to the federal charges if the death penalty was taken off the table.

Gendron was sentenced to life in prison without parole on state charges in February 2023 after pleading guilty to 15 charges, including domestic terrorism motivated by hate, murder and attempted murder.