BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Lawyers for Payton Gendron, the man who shot and killed 10 Black people at Tops on Jefferson Avenue, want a federal judge to dismiss the entire federal case against him.
In a court filing, lawyers explain this federal death penalty caseis not in the public interest nor is it necessary to secure substantial justice. They say this federal case is duplicative, considering Gendron was already sentenced to life in prison in New York State under hate crime statutes.
According to the motion, "The [federal] government made no attempt to explain how a duplicative federal hate-crimes prosecution could possible be "necessary to secure substantial justice" under these circumstances and none is discernible, especially given the prohibition on DOJ’s considering “the legal unavailability of capital punishment in the state where the crime was committed” in its assessment of whether there is a substantial federal interest in bringing the prosecution."
The complaint goes on to explain, "Thereafter, the absence of a federal interest in re-prosecuting Payton Gendron became even clearer, when he pled guilty to every count in the state indictment and was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 90 years. The State of New York thereby guaranteed that he will spend the rest of his life shut away in one of its prisons and die there. Not only has it been established that the state is willing and able to prosecute Payton Gendron to the fullest, to condemn acts of racial violence in the strongest possible terms and to ensure that justice is served – it has done so."
WATCH: Tops workers moving forward after racist Buffalo mass shooting
Defense attorneys question why the federal government continues to seek prosecution, which "...will serve only to delay judicial resolution of the matter for years if not decades."
Gendron had planned his attack for some time, seeking out a highly-populated Black neighborhood, where his actions would have the greatest impact.
He drove from Conklin, New York to Buffalo, opening fire at Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue, on May 14, 2022. He was arrested in the Tops parking lot, that same day, by Buffalo police.
Gendron pleaded guilty to state charges in November, 2022. He was sentenced to life without parole in February, 2023.
WATCH: JUDGE SENTENCES GENDRON TO LIFE IN PRISON
His attorneys — federal public defenders — also want Gendron, to be excluded from the death penalty as possible punishment in this case. They cite his age at the time of the shooting. Gendron was 18 years old when he committed these hate crimes in Buffalo.
Now, at almost 21, he sits in the Livingston County Jail as the federal case continues against him.
Lawyers say, "As now understood, the brain may continue to develop into the early 20s...The objective indicia of community standards endorsed by the Supreme Court—such as its lack of use, in general or against particular classes of persons—show a uniform march away from executing persons under 21."
They say Gendron's age — at the time of the Tops shooting — should "categorically exempt him from capital punishment."
"In a May 2017 report by the [United States Sentencing] Commission, Youthful Offenders in the Federal System (“Youthful Offenders”), the Commission begins by defining a youthful offender as a person “age 25 or younger at the time they are sentenced in the federal system.”
Attorneys argue, "the science is as clear and uniform: People under 21 are not yet adults and should not be punished as such."
"A small handful [of states] may have a single young person on death row, sentenced decades ago, reflecting the broad trend towards disuse, and the evolving consensus that executing 18-year-olds is excessive..."
Finally, lawyers explicitly say, "...at the very least persons like Payton Gendron who were still 18 years old at the time of their charged capital offenses...should be treated differently than fully developed adults under the Supreme Court’s Eighth Amendment death-penalty jurisprudence. Their continuing brain development results in a lesser culpability, recognized in the country’s laws and practices, that should exempt them, like persons a few months younger, from capital punishment."
We've reached out to the US Attorney's office for the Western District of New York. We're told they are not commenting.
The federal trial for Gendron is expected to start in September, 2025.
