China News Service, July 28. According to a report by the American Chinese website, on July 27, the gunman Robert Aaron Long pleaded guilty to four murders in the Atlanta massage parlour shooting.
In March, he shot and killed 8 people at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area, 6 of whom were Asian women. The case currently being heard is in Cherokee County.
On the 27th, Lang appeared in court wearing a white open-collar buttoned shirt and slacks and admitted that he had shot and killed four people in a massage parlor in Cherokee County, 40 miles north of Atlanta.
The prosecutor told the judge that Lang had signed a plea agreement and admitted all charges in Cherokee County, including malicious murder, felony murder, attempted murder, and serious assault.
During the trial, Lang agreed to the prosecutor’s sentencing recommendations, that is, he was sentenced to four life imprisonments without parole, plus 35 years of other sentences, all of which were executed continuously.
Lang also faces charges of shooting and killing four people in two other massage parlors in Atlanta. In addition to murder, he also faces accusations of aggravated domestic terrorism and hate crimes there.
If found guilty, he may still face the death penalty.
Police said that before 5 pm local time on March 16, Lang shot and killed 4 people at a massage parlor in Cherokee County, 2 of whom were Asian women.
There, Lang shot and wounded the fifth person.
According to the police, Lang then drove all the way south to Atlanta, where he shot and killed three women in a massage parlor, then crossed the street to another massage parlor and shot and killed another woman working there. .
The four victims are all Asian women.
Lang is scheduled to appear in court in Fulton County next month.
Fani Willis, the Fulton County Attorney, has stated that Lang targeted these women in the Atlanta massage parlour gun case because of their race, nationality and gender, and she will seek to sentence him to death.
Georgia’s new hate crimes law does not make hate crimes a separate charge.
After a person is found guilty, the jury must determine whether his behavior was based on prejudice, which will result in aggravated punishment.
The 19 charges that Long faces in Fulton County include murder, felony murder, serious personal assault, and domestic terrorism.
This attack took place amid a surge of violent crimes against Asian communities, and it has aroused great concern across the United States.
US President Biden has signed a bill to curb the surge in hate crimes and violence against Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic.