Alleged Buffalo supermarket shooter to plead guilty to all state charges: Report

The DOJ has not announced whether it will seek the death penalty.

Published: November 17, 2022 4:18pm

Updated: November 17, 2022 4:40pm

Alleged Buffalo supermarket shooter Payton Gendron will reportedly plead guilty to all state charges in connection with the deadly incident, according to media reports. 

Gendron allegedly opened fire at a Tops grocery store and killed 10 bystanders while wounding three other individuals in May of this year. He faces multiple charges including 10 counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime. All of his murder victims were black. 

He will allegedly plead guilty to the charges on Monday when he appears in Erie County Court at 2 p.m. EST that day, according to the Buffalo News.

One attorney representing the families of two victims opined that the Gendron's expected plea was likely a bid to avoid the death penalty.

"As a lawyer with death penalty experience, I can tell you that Gendron’s lawyers are just trying to save his life. The evidence against him is overwhelming," attorney John Elmore told the News.

New York State does not allow the death penalty, though the Department of Justice may opt to pursue it for the host of federal charges Gendron still faces. At the federal level, he faces 14 hate crime charges and 13 charges of using a firearm to commit hate crimes.

The DOJ has not announced whether it will seek his death pursuant to the charges.

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