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White supremacist Dylann Roof sentenced to death

Sentences of death are relatively rare at the federal level.
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(CNN) — Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof should be sentenced to death, a federal jury found Tuesday.

The federal jury was tasked with deciding whether Roof should be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Deliberations began around 1:30 p.m. Central Time.

Roof, an avowed white supremacist, killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015. He was declared guilty after a trial that wrapped up on Dec. 15 at a federal courthouse in Charleston.

Prosecutors presented Roof as a “cold and calculating” killer. Jurors saw a witness whose son was killed sobbing on the stand. They heard an FBI agent read a series of Roof’s racist writings. And they watched a video of Roof laughing after admitting he killed the victims.

The defense did not call any witnesses, and Roof did not testify.

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