Justice Department intends to seek death penalty for Buffalo supermarket shooter Payton Gendron

The Justice Department has indicated in a court filing Friday that it is intending to seek the death penalty for Buffalo supermarket shooter Payton Gendron.

Gendron, 20, is already serving a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole after he pleaded guilty to state charges of murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism in the May 2022 attack that left 10 Black people dead at a Tops grocery store.

New York does not have capital punishment, but the Justice Department had the option of seeking the death penalty in a separate federal hate crimes case. Gendron had promised to plead guilty in that case if prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.