Photo: Howard Lipin/The San Diego Union-Tribune via AP
A white supremacist who shot and killed one worshipper and injured three others when heattackeda Southern California synagogue has been sentenced to life in prison.
John T. Earnest, 22, did not receive the death penalty after pleading guilty to murder in July. Under a plea deal, he was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without possibility of parole for murder and attempted murder in the 2019 shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue,Associated Pressreported.
Earnest opened fire on a group of nearly 100 worshippers with an AR-15 style rifle during a service on the last day of Passover in April 2019, killing 60-year-oldLori Gilbert Kayeand injuring the congregation’s rabbi, an 8-year-old-girl and her uncle, Almog Peretz.
Hannah Kaye, Lori’s daughter, gave a victim impact statement at the hearing Thursday, where she described her late mother as her best friend, perThe New York Times.
“Suddenly, in an instant, the earth literally shifted,” Hannah said, adding, the “taste of gunpowder entered my mouth.”
“I’m not going to let him use this as a platform to add to his celebrity,” Deddeh said.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
The gunman’s parents called Earnest’s shooting a “terrifying mystery.”
“To our great shame, he is now part of the history of evil that has been perpetrated on Jewish people for centuries,” they said in a statement released after the shooting.
On Thursday, they shared, “our hearts are heavy and our sadness profound.”
Earnest will also be sentenced in federal court in December after he pleaded guilty to a 113-count federal indictment, perThe Times.The Justice Department does not plan to seek the death penalty, but will recommend life in prison, plus 30 years.
source: people.com
