The self-proclaimed white supremacist who meticulously planned and then carried out the mass murder of 10 Black people at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue pleaded guilty Monday morning to 15 charges against him, guaranteeing he will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Payton Gendron, now 19, of Broome County, appeared before Erie County Judge Susan Eagan Monday morning, a little over six months after the May 14 massacre that left 10 people dead, three wounded and a community scarred by the violent act of hate inflicted at one of the only supermarkets on the East Side of Buffalo.
He had earlier been indicted. In court he pleaded guilty to:
- One count of first-degree domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate.
- 10 counts of first-degree murder.
- Three counts of attempted second-degree murder as a hate crime.
- One count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge.
