Georgia man pleading guilty to 4 of 8 Asian spa killings

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Miami Hearld

A Georgia man accused of killing eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses was pleading guilty in Cherokee County on Tuesday, hoping for a sentence of life without parole to the first four of the shooting deaths. Robert Aaron Long faces still faces the death penalty if convicted in four more shooting deaths in Atlanta, where he faces charges of domestic terrorism with a hate crime enhancement in addition to murder.

Long is white and six of the victims were women of Asian descent. Long walked through the massage business in Woodstock “shooting anyone and everyone he saw,” District Attorney Shannon Wallace said. But the prosecutor said he was motivated by a “sex addiction” and his desire to eliminate sources of his temptation, not by any hate against Asians or women.

“All of the evidence that was gathered with regard to Cherokee County, your honor, came to the same conclusion, that this crime was not motivated by a bias or hate against Asian Americans. As for gender bias, Wallace said a charge based on hatred of women would not have extended his sentence. “This was not any kind of hate crime,” she said. Wallace said they had planned to seek the death penalty if Long didn't plead guilty.

All the relatives of the victims that they've been able to contact are supporting the plea deal in the interests of swift justice, she added. The prosecutor said the 22-year-old defendant has signed a plea deal admitting to all of the charges in Cherokee County, where he was accused of malice murder, felony murder, attempt to commit murder and aggravated assault.

Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article253054818.html

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Georgia man gets life sentence in 4 of 8 Asian spa killings

CANTON, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man accused of killing eight people at three Asian massage businesses was sentenced Tuesday to life without parole after a prosecutor said investigators saw no evidence of racial bias.

Robert Aaron Long was given four life sentences after pleading guilty to all charges in the first four shooting deaths, saying he wanted to punish the people who enabled his sex acts.

But Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace told the judge that “this was not any kind of hate crime.” That’s at odds with the hate crime enhancement he faces in Atlanta, and is sure to frustrate observers outraged over his apparent targeting of Asian women in the shootings.

Cherokee County Superior Court Chief Judge Ellen McElyea accepted the plea deal after noting that two of the victims were not Asian, and one was male.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/georgia-man-gets-life-sentence-in-4-of-8-asian-spa-killings/ar-AAMCjVm

[joshcryer]

4. No racial component my ass.

This incel was likely posting on 4chan style boards the whole damn time he was taking advantage of those "services."

[Warpy]

2. What, the gun walked in and fired itself at the othr four?

Stuff like this makes the justice system look as nutty as the perp is.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Apparently he targeted and killed a total of 8 at 3 different locations

Last edited Tue Jul 27, 2021, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

So this was just the plea deal/guilty plea for the 4 at one location and they are apparently charging the other 2 incidents (total of an additional 4 dead) separately.

ETA - just heard on the radio that the 2 other locations were in a different county so they are doing their own prosecutions.

[WhiteTara]

5. thanks. That didn't make sense to me

so I appreciate you explaining this to me.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. I sortof remember when it originally happened

and a mention of him going to different places. But since I'm not from that area, I wasn't sure how close the places were to each other and whether they were even in the same jurisdictions. So this definitely confirms that the different sets of killings are being done separately because they were done in different counties.

[WhiteTara]

7. that does make sense

but if I were in charge, I would have put the murders together and had the state try the case. This seems wasteful of court time.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. I think states tend to defer to local court jurisdictions

and in this case, there is still the question of whether there might also be a federal case as a hate crime. But I expect they are letting it play out to see where it goes so they don't have "too many cooks in the kitchen" when it comes to plea agreements and/or trials, etc.

[WhiteTara]

9. thanks