Law&Crime Sidebar - Buffalo Mass Shooter Locked Up for Life After Intense Sentencing Trial

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

The Buffalo mass shooter received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the hate-fueled massacre that left 10 people dead and three others injured at a grocery store in New York in May 2022. The shooter, Payton S. Gendron, “apologized” for the killings at sentencing, while relatives of victims gave powerful impact statements describing the tragic outcome of his hateful actions. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber discusses the case with homicide prosecutor Melba Pearson.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. The teenager responsible for the Buffalo mass shooting was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And the sentencing hearing was full of hysteria. We bring on homicide prosecutor Melba Pearson to discuss whether the federal death penalty could now be on the table. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. I hope you spend the rest of your life every second, every minute, every hour, rehearsing the daunting sound of the screams and the echoes of the lives you snuffed out.

Out. All right, well, we saw the Buffalo shooter sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And if you thought it went out without a hiccup, you would be wrong because, oh my gosh, it was dramatic. But let's rewind a little bit. Let's set the stage. We go back to May 14th, 2022. 18-year-old Peyton Gendron traveled back to a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, and open fire at a supermarket, killing 10 people and injuring three others. And if that wasn't horrific enough, Gendron posted a 180-page rant online that contained racist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Investigators say the massacre was racially motivated as 11 of the 13 people shot were black. The shooter ended up pleading guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, as well as a weapons possession charge, and one count of domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate. now we go to his sentencing at the sentencing like we've seen in other sentencing hearings victims are permitted to make victim impact statements give their thoughts on what happened the judge can consider this and here several people chose to deliver their comments directly to the shooter and as that was happening things suddenly erupted

that ain't family dead you're going to come to our city and decide you don't like black people me you don't know a damn thing about black people we're human we like our kids to go to good schools we love our kid we're never going to know neighborhoods and take people out Catherine Massey when that man lunged towards the shooter, and this is not entirely surprising, given the gravity of the situation and the emotions running high. We've seen this happen before. It's not allowed to happen, but it shouldn't happen. But again, it's understandable. And not surprisingly, given all that, there doesn't seem to be any plans to charge the man that lunged at the shooter. And speaking of the defendant, he himself had something to say during the hearing as well. I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were black. Looking back now, I can't believe I actually did it. I believed what I read

online and acted out of hate. And no, I can't take it back, but I wish I could. And I don't want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did. It's incredible to hear that. You know, he admits that this was racially motivated. He says he's apologizing, but, so where are we with him? Well, he was sentenced to life in prison on the state charges, but what about the fact? federal case. The reason I ask this is because while the death penalty doesn't exist in New York, it is now being considered at the federal level. To help us get a better understanding of this, I am joined right now by a very special guest, my good friend, homicide prosecutor, Melba Pearson, is with us. Melba, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for coming on sidebar.

This is just a remarkable case, and I want to get into the federal aspect of it. So we know that the shooter's been indicted on 27 federal charges, including over a dozen hate crime charges. He originally pled not guilty, but he seems to be willing to plead guilty if the death penalty is taken off the table. We know the attorney general is going to decide at a later date whether to seek the death penalty. Do you think it should be pursued here? So, Jesse, always great to be on with you. That's a tough one, right? Because of the fact that you have to look at what the survivor's families want and the surviving victims. If they are very adamant that they do not want to see the death penalty, that could be one reason why the death penalty won't be pursued. Also,

because of the fact that he's already going to be serving a life sentence in New York, a concurrent federal sentence of life would still bring closure to all of the families involved. So I think the concerns of the next of kin and the victims are going to play a very big role here as to whether or not the Attorney General, Merrick Arland, will seek the death penalty in this case. But the thing about that is, what I've been reading is some of the victims' family members say they don't want the death penalty. They think that his punishment should be life in prison, that he would suffer in prison as opposed to being on death row and eventually being executed. That is both a practical and maybe a moral question, you know, but I think it's

interesting to think about legally, does it meet the requirements of the death penalty? Do you think the hate aspect of it would play a fact? Well, absolutely, the hate aspect will play a huge factor because of the manifesto he put online, his own statements with regards to the crime itself, his statements in the courtroom, the fact that all of the people he shot were black or the vast majority of the people he shot were black African American. He went to a specific neighborhood knowing that people of color were going to be there and that's why he targeted that particular place. So the hate aspect is going to be huge. But again, at the same token, you never really want to override the wishes of people that have already suffered so much through the loss of a loved one

if they are adamant that they don't want to see the death penalty, because think about it. They'd have to then wait the entire time for the process to work its way through. Trial may happen in a year to two years. Then they're going to have to go to court, hear the horrible details all over again, relive it all over again. They may not be emotionally in a place where that would serve them as closure. You know, so that could be another reason why the Department of Justice may choose not to pursue the death penalty, but they may. They may and completely have enough to do it. And this isn't the first time we've seen something like this. So if we go back, Robert Allen Long, he killed eight people, six of them being Asian women, and a massage parley in Atlanta in 2021. We know that Gendron admitted in court that he shot these individuals because of their race. So this being a white man, killing 10 people, clearly racially motivated. If you.

If he tried to fight this, right, let me, let me rephrase, if he said I'm going to plead not guilty, takes it to trial any defense or is this just a foregone conclusion he'd be convicted of all of these federal charges? I cannot see a scenario where he'd be found not guilty. I just don't based on the evidence, based on all of his statements. I mean, when you post 180 page manifesto laced with hate and vitriol, that's the prosecution's exhibit one. That'd be the first thing you're handing to the jury. Read this. Okay, now go back and deliberate. I mean, the case basically tries itself in a lot of ways. Obviously, you know, I'm joking, but at the same token, it is a very easy case from the perspective of the evidence it's all there. The question will be, is the defense going to maybe try to pursue some mental health defense? But again, he's able to articulate why he did what he did. So I don't see that mental health would even work here. Let's get into that because in his statement to court, he said that he wishes he could take it all back. He can't believe he actually did it. And I find that quite remarkable.

And he went on to say that he believes what he read online and that he hopes that no one will be inspired but what he does. Do you think that he was actually influenced but what he read online? Do you think he's being sincere right now that he's apologetic? Because it was only what? How many months ago? Right. It was a little bit less than a year ago. I have mixed feelings about that.

I do think that people can change. People do have the capacity to grow and change. I think the time frame is a little short for that in his scenario because of the fact that I think he's upset that he got caught. I mean, now you're looking at the rest of your life in prison. There's a potential that you may end up being put to death for what you did. So the logical response is to be like, I'm sorry. This is awful. Yeah, it was let me blame all these other influences rather than my.

myself and my own hateful heart, right? Yes, he may have influenced by what he read online because we do see indoctrination of young people, unfortunately, through a lot of these different websites and all of that. But at the same token, you still took the action. You went and got the gun. You got the ammunition. You planned where you were going to go. So, yeah, that's crocodile tears to me.

And by the way, we have so many of these teenage mass shooting cases. So people often immediately start to question the parents, like how could this happen? We go to the Oxford school shooter, Ethan Crumbly's parents, they're charged with involuntary manslaughter because they, you know, allegedly allow their son to have access to guns. They ignored warning signs. This shooter's parents, we understand that they're not going to be criminally charged. They could face civil lawsuits. We know that court documents have detailed how Peyton was gifted hunting rifles by his father. He had a history of racial outbursts and violence against animals in their home.

So if there are clear warning signs, why didn't the parents do more and do you think that they're going to be held legally accountable? I do agree that there'll be a number of civil lawsuits. I don't know how much money they're going to be able to be covered from the family. I think it might end up being more symbolic unless they're wealthy and have some assets that can be distributed among 13 families. Again, thinking that's unlikely. It's a tough one because of the fact that parents don't always know every single thing their kid is doing. And this is of course a cautionary tale to parents to make sure that you're monitoring your child's social media that if you see them acting aggressively

towards animals and other people, you seek help because many serial killers and mass shooters start off by harming animals, are harming the family pet. So you have to be more cognizant of what's going on. I mean, we saw this in Sandy Hook where the mom thought that buying a gun for her child would cause them to bond. And meanwhile, she ended up being killed by that same weapon. So parents definitely have to step up to the plate when it comes to that. I just don't know if holding the parents accountable is going to bring any more closure for the victims. Maybe. But again, I think it's more lays with him unless, of course, some evidence has revealed that they shared the same beliefs and that they may be aided into the way. That's the question. Melba Pearson, your insight's

always so much appreciated. Thank you so much for talking about such a difficult case and for coming back here on Sidebar. Thanks. Thanks, Jessie. And that's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.