The victims of a 2015 mass shooting at a historic South Carolina church had their eyes closed in prayer when they were shot, jurors learned Wednesday during an emotionally charged first day of testimony in the federal murder trial of Dylann Roof.
Felicia Sanders was one of just three survivors of the June 17, 2015, shooting that killed nine members of Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church. Sanders was the first prosecution witness to take the stand in the trial of Roof, 22, who faces the death penalty in the slayings.
According to the Post and Courier, Sanders described for the jury how she played dead, clutching her 11-year-old granddaughter to her chest so hard that she feared she would smother her, in an effort to keep Roof from killing them. Sanders said she moved her legs through the growing pools of blood coming from her dying son and aunt so the gunman would see blood on her and think that they, too, were dead.
Roof, then 21, attended Bible study with the group that night, waiting until the closing prayer to make his move, Sanders testified.
“Seventy-seven shots in that room from someone we thought was looking for the Lord,” Sanders said through tears as she glared at Roof, who would not look at her. “But the whole time he was just evil, evil, as evil as can be.”
The Post and Courier reported that relatives of those killed sobbed, as did some jurors and a sketch artist sitting in the courtroom, as Sanders described the chaotic scene where she lost both her son, 26-year-old Tywanza Sanders, and her 87-year-old aunt, Susie Jackson. She testified that her son, already injured, stood up and pleaded with Roof to stop shooting.
When he told Roof that they meant him no harm, Roof replied: “You all are raping our women and you all are taking over the world,” Sanders testified.
Roof then shot Tywanza Sanders five more times, his mother said.
Two adults and a child survived the shooting, according to The New York Times. Besides Sanders, a recent college graduate, and Jackson, a longtime member of the church who sang in the choir, seven others were killed.
The dead included the church's pastor and a South Carolina state senator, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, who welcomed Roof into the study group with a Bible and a handout on the night's topic, The Times reported. Also killed were the Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, a high school speech pathologist and track coach; county librarian Cynthia Hurd, 54; Ethel Lee Lance, 70, another longtime church member; the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, a college enrollment counselor; retired pastor the Rev. Daniel Lee Simmons Sr., 74; and Myra Thompson, 59, an English teacher and guidance counselor.
Several law enforcement officers also testified Wednesday about what they encountered when they arrived on the scene that night, the Post and Courier said. Some of the officers were wearing body cameras, which captured images of the bloody aftermath of the shooting.
The newspaper reported that footage shown to the jurors showed bodies on the floor as officers swept through the church to be sure the shooter was not still there. Sanders could be heard wailing in the background over her son and aunt.
One Charleston police officer, Sgt. John Lites, testified about finding Tywanza Sanders dying of his wounds. The officer said he took the young man’s hand.
"He squeezed my hand, he kind of smiled and he passed away," Lites testified.
Federal prosecutors said in opening statements that Roof spent months planning the attack on the church, learning about its services and gathering his weapons and ammunition. His goal, they said, was to start a race war.
“He chose to execute nine good and innocent men and women,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson said. “And he chose to do so out of a callous hatred of the color of their skin.”
Roof's defense attorney, David Bruck, conceded that his client committed the slayings and said he did not disagree with the evidence in the case, the Post and Courier reported. Instead, he asked jurors to keep an open mind about that evidence and to consider what would make a 21-year-old commit the crimes.
“On what planet would a person think you could advance a political agenda by attacking a church?” Bruck asked.
Roof faces a total of 33 charges, including federal hate crimes, according to The Times. Prosecutors in the federal case turned down the defendant's pretrial offer to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He also faces a capital murder trial in state court, which is slated to begin next month, the newspaper said.
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