Dylann Roof has been sentenced to death for the murder of nine people at a church in Charleston.
The convicted killer shot dead nine black members of Emanuel AME Church after he was invited to join them for bible study in June 2015.
ITVreports that Roof told jurors prior to their decision that “I still feel like I had to do it”.
The 22-year-old, who did not ask jurors to spare his life, is responsible for the deaths of Rev Clementa Pinckney, 41, and Rev Daniel Simmons, 74, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Myra Thompson, 59; Ethel Lance, 70; Susie Jackson, 87; and Tywanza Sanders, 26.
Defending himself in court Roof denied that he suffered from any psychological disorder, he also did not call a single witness.
No remorse was shown by Roof, who wrote in a diary following his arrest, “I would like to make it crystal clear. I do not regret what I did. I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”
The death penalty in South Carolina is delivered via lethal injection.
Roof becomes the first person in the US to be given the federal death penalty for hate crimes.
