Prosecutor plans to seek death penalty in Atlanta spa shooting case

ATLANTIC-AREA spa killing accused, Robert Aaron Long, has been indicted on murder charges on Tuesday (11), with a prosecutor seeking the death penalty for hate crimes targeting the gender and race of the victims.

Long was indicted for a total of 19 counts in Fulton County, which includes charges of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, domestic terrorism, and possession of a firearm during the felony. He is suspected of opening fire at the spas on March 16, first at a business about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta, followed by two more at spas in northeastern Atlanta, killing eight people out of whom six of them were Asian-origin women.

"Lady Justice in this community is blind," Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis told a news conference after her court filing. "It does not matter your ethnicity, it does not matter the side of the tracks you come from, it does not matter your wealth. You will be treated as an individual with value."

In the court filing, Willis said Long had targeted four women in Atlanta because of their actual or perceived race, national origin, and gender. In a separate filing, she said she would seek the death penalty against Long.

"Death penalty cases are never easy. This is a long journey. And so the biggest hurdle will just be having stamina, but some journeys are worth taking," Willis said, adding she came to the decision after spending time with the families of the victims and reviewing the evidence.

The charges and the decisions to seek the death penalty under the hate crime law will “send a message that everyone within this community is valued,” Willis said. 

Long’s lawyer is yet to comment on the matter. 

Soon after his arrest, the accused  had acknowledged carrying out the shootings but claimed they were "not racially motivated."

"(Long) apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction," said Captain Jay Baker adding that the accused said that his attack was a form of vengeance against "a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.”