(BUFFALO, N.Y) — Payton Gendron, the teenager who killed 10 Black people at the Topps supermarket in East Buffalo in 2022, claims he cannot get a fair trial in Western New York, so his federal death-penalty eligible case should move to New York City, his attorneys said in a new court filing.
Gendron pleaded guilty in November 2022 to state charges, including domestic terrorism motivated by hate, and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted of federal crimes.
His federal trial is scheduled to begin in September.
Gendron’s attorneys argued that “due to the overwhelming amount of pretrial publicity, combined with the impact of this case on Buffalo’s segregated communities of color, it is impossible for Payton Gendron to select a fair and impartial jury in the Western District of New York.”
The lawyers asked for change of venue to the Southern District of New York, encompassing Manhattan, the Bronx and the northern suburbs, because it is “far enough from the local media market to be less impacted by it” and because “the S.D.N.Y. also has sufficient minority representation that has not been directly impacted by the shooting and its aftermath that a diverse and representative jury should be able to be selected.”
There was no immediate comment from federal prosecutors, who would be expected to file their opposition or consent in court papers.
Barbara Massey Mapps — whose 72-year-old sister, Katherine “Kat” Massey, was among those killed in the May 14, 2022, massacre — told ABC News on Tuesday that she and her family would oppose a change of venue.
“We don’t want that. No, no no,” said Massey. “Me and my family would be against that.”
Massey said she expects federal prosecutors to oppose the change-of-venue motion at Gendron’s next court date later this month.
Wayne Jones — whose mother, 65-year-old Celestine Chaney, was also killed in the attack — said he also wants Gendron’s federal trial to remain in Buffalo.
“What could you really call a ‘fair trial’ and you’re on video doing it?” Jones told ABC News, referring to the livestream video of the killing rampage that Gendron recorded. “We all know you did it. You already pleaded guilty once.”
Jones said he expects prosecutors to play for the federal jury selected for the trial the video Gendron recorded with a helmet camera, as well as surveillance video from the Topps market.
“The only way you could watch that video and not give him the death penalty is if you’re really against it,” said Jones, who has viewed the video Gendron live-streamed.
Jones also said a change of venue would deprive him and the families of the other victims of the opportunity of watching the trial in person.
“I want him to stay here so I can see the trial,” Jones told ABC News. “In New York City, we wouldn’t be able to go to the trial.”
Gendron has separately asked the judge to strike the death penalty as a possible punishment, arguing the decision to seek it had a “discriminatory intent and discriminatory effect.”
The judge has yet to rule.
During his February 2023 sentencing hearing, Gendron, who was 18 when he committed the mass shooting, apologized to the victims’ families, saying he was sorry “for stealing the lives of your loved ones.”
“I did a terrible thing that day. I shot people because they were Black,” Gendron said.
Gendron planned the massacre for months — including previously traveling twice to the Tops store he targeted, a more than three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York — to scout the layout and count the number of Black people present, according to state prosecutors. Wearing tactical gear, body armor, and wielding an AR-15 style rifle he legally purchased and illegally modified, Gendron committed the rampage on a Saturday afternoon when prosecutors said he knew the store would be full of Black shoppers.
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