The Latest: Jury finds man guilty in deadly church shooting

By The Associated Press May 24, 2019 at 11:32am

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Latest on jury deliberations in the 2017 Tennessee church shooting (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

A jury has found a man guilty of murder in a shooting at a Nashville church two years ago that left a woman dead and seven people wounded.

The jury deliberated less than five hours before finding 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson guilty Friday.

Among witnesses who testified in the trial were Burnette Chapel Church of Christ congregants who recalled details of the bloody scene.

Prosecutors are seeking life without parole.

Samson is black; the victims are white. A prosecutor said Samson left a note about a 2015 shooting massacre at a South Carolina black church and aimed to kill at least 10 white churchgoers in revenge.

Samson testified that because of his mental illnesses he didn’t remember if he shot the churchgoers.

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Jurors in Tennessee are deliberating the fate of a black man who killed a woman and wounded seven people at a Nashville church in apparent revenge for the racist massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.

Twenty-seven-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the 2017 shooting of the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ.

Defense witnesses say he suffers from bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress after a violent childhood. His lawyers argued for criminally negligent homicide, not murder.

Prosecutors say he’s conveniently invoking mental illness to avoid responsibility. They’re seeking life without parole.

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