The jury convicts Emanuel Samson of first degree murder at the Tennessee Church

May 24, 2019 at 21:24 UTC / Source: Associated press

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – A jury on Friday found a man guilty of first-degree murder in a shootout in a church in Nashville two years ago. One woman was killed and seven others injured.

The jurors deliberated less than five hours before pronouncing the verdict against Emanuel Kidega Samson. He was found guilty of the 43 counts mentioned in the indictment.

Samson, 27, is black; the victims are white. Samson left a note on the 2015 South Carolina black church massacre aimed at killing at least 10 white worshipers for revenge, District Attorney Amy Hunter said. Jurors are now considering a life sentence without parole, a decision that could be made as early as Tuesday.

The faithful of Burnette Chapel's multicultural Christ Church testified during the four-day trial of the rain of bullets and the bloody scene that had unfolded before them just after their Sunday service ended. Some had gunshot wounds to show.

After the verdict was read, they dumped themselves in the hallway, cried and kissed each other.

Burnette's minister, Joey Spann, remembered Samson as a different man a few years ago, when he was a member of Spann's church, well before the shooting. The preacher, who lost a finger in the shooting, said that his followers had not even heard Samson's "Sam Sorry".

"I hope this other Emanuel Samson will come back," Spann said at the end of the verdict. "I also hope that he will come back to see him in jail for the rest of his life."

The shooting of September 2017 killed Melanie L., 38, of Smyrna, Tennessee. She was shot and wounded in the church parking lot as she was driving towards her car to get a droopy cough, dropping her Bible and her notes, Hunter said.

"Melanie touched and left an impression on everyone she met," said Crow's sister, Bridget Polson. "She had a big heart, a beautiful smile and an edifying soul."

Samson testified that he did not remember committing the crime. He stated that his mental disorders had resulted in memory loss and that his feelings of ecstasy were constantly changing to give way to thoughts of suicide that he had experienced on the morning of the shooting. He said that he was taking medication in prison and that his thoughts had "slowed down considerably". He recounted that his memory mingled with the end of the shooting, while he had been hit in the chest during a tussle with a faithful who would have saved lives.

In order to undermine Samson's testimony, prosecutors repeated prison calls in the month following the shooting, during which he and his ex-girlfriend laugh at victims and brag about the quality of his media coverage. They described his memory as grim at best, a convenient way to avoid answering tough questions on the witness stand.

Samson also stated that he did not remember writing the memo citing the White supremacist Dylann Roof's massacre in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. This note, found in his car outside the church, was referring to red, black and green panafrican flag, sometimes called RBG. In addition, prosecutors said that Samson had swung his gun by two African-American practitioners during the shooting, jumping over them.

"Dylann Roof is less than nothing," says Hunter. "The blood that 10 people of your species will pay is the color on the RBG flag in terms of revenge." The note included a curse and ended with a smiling face, Hunter said.

Samson said that he remembered writing what the defense had described as a suicide note to his girlfriend at the time, that day.

The judge had limited what could be said before the jurors about Samson's mental illness. Defense attorney Jennifer Lynn Thompson said the case had been found not to meet the criteria of the defense of insanity.

Prior to the trial, the judge largely concealed the details of the case in public view. At a public hearing held in April, it was revealed that a psychiatrist had diagnosed Samson with a "schizoaffective bipolar disorder" and a post-traumatic stress disorder after a violent and violent education.

With the jury out of the room, Samson's father said at one point that he had tried in vain to persuade the authorities to remove Samson's weapons after he had sent a suicidal text to the Summer 2017.

Prosecutors also said the shooting had revealed a real hero.

The church's follower, Robert Caleb Engle, 24, testified that he had been confronted twice with the shooter, who was wearing a tactical vest and a motorcycle-type mask sporting a clown smile. Engle said that he had received three lashes with the gun. At one point, he pushed the gun back at the shooter and a shot was fired, hitting the shooter and sending him to the ground.

Engle said that his father had removed the gun, stood on the shooter 's hand and asked Engle to pick up his gun from his truck.

Engle returned with his weapon, put his foot on the shooter's back and stood guard until the first responders arrived.