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Victims' families share emotional testimony before Tops gunman is sentenced to life without parole

Wayne Jones, the son of Tops Friendly Market shooting victim Celestine Chaney, pauses to collect himself as he makes a statement to the court during the sentencing of Payton Gendron before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Derek Gee
/
The Buffalo News via AP
Wayne Jones, the son of Tops Friendly Market shooting victim Celestine Chaney, pauses to collect himself as he makes a statement to the court during the sentencing of Payton Gendron before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan Feb. 15, 2023.

The gunman who killed 10 Black people and injured three others in the May 14 racist mass shooting at the Jefferson Avenue Tops Market was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Wednesday.

The sentencing was an emotional day for the surviving victims and families of the deceased as they gave impact statements, often choosing to look 19-year-old Payton Gendron in the eyes while describing the pain he caused.

“There is no place for you or your ignorant, hateful, and evil ideologies in a civilized society," said Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan said as she sentenced Gendron. "There can be no mercy for you, no understanding, no second chances. The damage you have caused is too great. And the people you have hurt are too valuable to this community. You will never see the light of day as a free man ever again."

In November, Gendron pled guilty to all 15 charges brought by the state. This included 10 counts of murder in the first degree, and three counts of attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime, for the three victims who survived. Gendron was the first person in New York to be convicted of the state’s charge of domestic terrorism motivated by hate in the first degree.

Payton Gendron speaks to the court before sentencing
Derek Gee
/
The Buffalo News via AP Pool
Gunman Payton Gendron reads an apology to the court at his sentencing before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan Feb. 15, 2023.

Additionally, he was charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Gendron’s charges automatically carried a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Gendron’s federal case is still pending. Gendron has 27 charges at the federal level and the death penalty has not yet been ruled out.

“I was told to write an impact statement. First I was being selfish and I said I wasn't gonna do it. But then I remember I wasn't doing it for this selfish coward, or the courts or the press,” said Deja Brown, Andre Mackniel’s daughter. “But I was doing it for my dad, my best friend who was snatched from this world because of something he couldn't change: the color of his skin.”

The victim impact statements focused on the destruction caused by Gendron’s racist and white supremacist ideologies, the loss of loved ones, the PTSD many now live with, the resilience of the community, and their hopes for what comes next for the murderer. One survivor, the families of the two other survivors, and the families of those who passed spoke.

“He was so wise, and he made the world easier to live in because he had all the answers to my wild questions,” Brown said of her father, who had been at the store to buy his 3-year-old son a birthday cake. “When I was around him, I wanted to know his every move, where he was going, what he was doing, and I made sure I tagged along. And the one time he leaves without me, he doesn't come back. After this happened, I constantly beat myself up about him going.”

“And I'm still pissed off because he wasn't given a chance to fight. He was blindsided, you hit him and he didn't even know he got hit,” Brown said. “He was blindsided by a hateful death at the hands of a selfish boy who was obviously not educated on the history of African Americans. Because of you, murdering my dad, I'm pissed. And I'm sad, and I hate you.”

Roberta Drury’s mother Leslie VanGiesen, held up a photo of her daughter as a child to the court, saying through tears, “today when you think of Robbie … I don't think of her like this. I need this picture to remind me, she was a beautiful girl. I think of her alone, laying on the pavement for hours.”

Leslie VanGiesen holds up a baby photograph of her late daughter, Roberta Drury, as she confronts Payton Gendron before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.
Derek Gee
/
The Buffalo News via AP Pool
Leslie VanGiesen holds up a baby photograph of her late daughter, Roberta Drury, as she confronts Payton Gendron before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023.

“I've never been able to see or touch her after that day … I have been profoundly changed,” VanGiesen said. "My life view is just saddened, everything. Robbie’s family, my family, has been permanently damaged and there is no punishment that will ever reverse our loss.”

“You have made me sick. You got my family crying. I miss my sister. Every day I live three doors down from Kat. I talked to Kat four times a day,” shared Barbara Mapps, the sister of Katherine Massey. Mapps chose to stand away from the lectern and stare directly at Gendron.

“My son called Kat triple Black because she was so proud of her heritage,” Massey continued, describing her sister’s life. At one point, a man from the audience gets up, visibly emotional, and comes to stand next to Mapps.

“My sister Kathrine Massey was a great person. Kat didn’t hurt anybody.

"You don’t come to our city and decide you don’t like Black people. Man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people. We're human. We like our kids to go to good schools. We love our kids. We never go to no neighborhoods to take people out,” Mapps said, tearfully.

At this point, a commotion broke out in the court as the man rushed toward Gendron, who was removed from the court.

Mapps said to an officer during the moment's chaos, "you just don’t know what we're going through.” Another person screamed, “How dare you take him and protect him [Gendron].” After a few brief moments, court resumed and Gendron was brought back in.

Man rushes Payton Gendron in court
AP Photo
Assistant district attorney Gary Hackbush, center, helps deputies restrain a man who lunged towards Payton Gendron during his sentencing Erie County Court Feb 15, 2023.

The day was filled with intense grief, anger and sadness. Many of the families expressed that they hope Gendron is not sentenced to the death penalty so that he has to live the rest of his life in prison with what he has done.

“The hatred that you must have in your heart for Black people, I will never understand. I don't want to understand it," said Brian Talley, brother-in-law of Geraldine Talley. "But I must say this. I pray to God they do not kill you. Because I've been incarcerated. I have. And I know where you are going."

“Where are you going… solitary confinement for the rest of your life, by yourself, wearing this color green. That's why I wore green today. Because I want you to remember this color, you will be wearing this color for the rest of your life. I'm praying that you will wear this for the rest of your life."

“The world says you have to forgive in order to move on. But I stand before you today to say that will never happen. Forgiveness, to me, puts this tragedy in the laps of the victims and I nor my son will accept the responsibility of his terroristic act,” said Zeneta Everhart, mother of shooting survivor Zaire Goodman, one of three people who were injured.

“This is his and his alone. It is he who will need to ask for forgiveness. As he lay in his cell late at night, when he can't sleep, I hope that he is thinking of the 10 lives that he stole from us. I want him to think about my son who he shot and the other survivors. I want him to think about the community he tried to destroy,” Everhart added. “And when the sun comes up, I want him to know that that is Zaire. That is my son Zaire Goodman, showing you that what you did to him hurt, but he continues to shine."

“Whatever the sentence is that he receives, it will never be enough to pay for the damage that he has caused. I hope that he receives the fate that he deserves,” Everhart said.

“I'm confused on how you got past everybody with your ideology and all this nonsense,” said Vyonne Elliott, brother of Andre Mackniel. “You have all these protectors of you. But so that you know, that they're here now, where you're going, I've been, and your own kind is going to get you, just so you know. I've been in that prison. Your own kind is going to get you, everything that you think that you know about prison and whatever they told you is a lie.”

Wayne Jones, who is the only child of Celestine Cheney, told Gendron he doesn’t want him to face the death penalty and to find it in his heart to apologize to the people whose lives he shattered forever. He described to Gendron the life he stole.

“You took from us a loving mother, grandmother, sister, cousin behind your senseless act,” said Jones. “We will never get another birthday another, get together, another celebration, shopping, another call on the phone like we often liked to do. While I was writing this tears fell from my eyes thinking about the beautiful person you took.”

Gendron apologized before being sentenced, a move seen by some as insincere and meant to sway if the death penalty will be pursued in federal court.

Payton Gendron carried out of court
Derek Gee
/
The Buffalo News via AP Pool
Payton Gendron is whisked out of the courtroom after a man charged at Gendron during his sentencing for charges including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate in an Erie County court room Feb 15, 2023.

"I'm very sorry for all the pain I forced the victims and their families to suffer through. I'm very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones. I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14," said Gendron, standing up from his seat, hands chained, holding a piece of paper.

"I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can't believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. And now I can't take it back, but I wish I could. And I don't want anyone to be inspired by me for what I did," Gendron said.

A message that continued throughout the day from survivors and families was that Gendron wasn’t successful in dividing the community as he had hoped and that those who survived, and the legacies of those who did not, will always be remembered and cherished, while he will be forgotten.

“Our grandmother had a strong and resilient spirit. She will not be present for our milestones but we stand strong and determined and triumphant in ways that you could never fathom,” said Simone Crawley, granddaughter of Ruth Whitfield, who said her grandmother taught her the power of love. “We find strength in knowing that her legacy will outlive you. You will simply go from a name to a number.”

(EDITORIAL NOTE: While WBFO has chosen not to give the accused gunman extra fame nor gratuitously name him, in stories about his court proceedings, we have opted to identify him. To not do so would be incomplete journalism, and people of color have suggested that anonymity could provide cover to racism that ought to be otherwise exposed and discussed.)

Emyle Watkins is an investigative journalist covering disability for WBFO.