Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The suspected shooter in the Tops mass shooting back on May 14 was in federal court on Thursday making his initial appearance after being charged by criminal complaint on 26 different charges on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old alleged gunman, Payton Gendron, is facing 10 counts of hate crime resulting in death and using a firearm to commit murder. The complaint also includes three counts each of hate crime involving bodily injury and attempt to kill, and using a firearm in a violent crime.
No plea was entered during Thursday's proceeding, and no further court date has been set until there is an indictment.
Inside the courtroom saw a number of different people gathered for the initial appearance on Thursday. This included some of the family members of the victims in the mass shooting one month ago that saw 10 people killed and another three people wounded.
"It just made me angry. Very angry. Very, very angry," said Tamika Harper, whose aunt, Geraldine Talley, was one of the 10 victims who died as a result of the shooting. "He has not a lick of remorse. He has no remorse."
Also in attendance for Thursday's initial appearance was Zeneta Everhart, whose son, Zaire Goodman, was one of the three victims who managed to survive the shooting, despite being wounded by the gunman.
"It's not good feelings. It's hard being here," said Everhart of what took place on Thursday. "It's hard being in a courtroom with a terrorist. Seeing the man who tried to kill my son, sitting there in the same space, sharing the same space with him is hard."
While the pain of being in the same room with the suspected gunman is certainly a tough pill to swallow, the families felt it was important to be there for one reason or another.
"I'm gonna keep her name alive. I'm gonna keep every court date, I will be here," Harper said. "I'll be here throughout the whole process. I'm gonna definitely be here for it all, for my aunt and the other nine victims."
"I need to share space with him. I need that. That's part of my healing process through this," Everhart explained her reasoning. "I'm a human like he's a human. So I need some understanding through this, and I don't understand how another human can carry out something like this. I need to be here."
With the charges of a hate crime resulting in death against the suspected gunman, if he happens to be convicted on any one of those 10 counts, he is subject to potentially face the death penalty.
Judge Kenneth Schroeder urged prosecutors on Thursday to quickly decide whether to pursue the death penalty or not against the suspect, given the "substantial" cost of cases relating to the death penalty. Schroeder also noted it's typical for cases like this to require expert testimony from psychiatrists and medical examiners.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says he has not ruled out seeking the death penalty against Gendron, and it will essentially be up to him to make that decision.
"Generally speaking, I'm against the death penalty. I consider myself a humanist. I believe in the preservation of human life," Everhart said of the possibility of the death penalty for the shooter. "But I also trust the prosecutors. I trust the U.S. Attorney General. If that is the direction that he thinks that we need to go in this case, then that's where we're gonna go."
"At first, I said the death penalty would be too easy. That would be too easy. But the way they have him protected in jail, that's easy, too," Harper added. "I'm a very Christian person, I believe in God, and I don't wish death on anyone. But this right here, I have to work on that, because I would rather see him dead. I would rather see him dead."
During Thursday's initial appearance, Gendron was obligated to file a financial affidavit in order to be represented by public defenders based on his financial situation. Fielding a series of questions from the judge, mostly with "yes" or "no" responses, Gendron said he had not been employed in a year, had $16 dollars in a bank account, had no car and owned two shares of Disney stock.
"It's not surprising, but somebody was funding his lifestyle, right? Someone was," Everhart said of her thoughts on the financial questions. "My son isn't out buying AR-15s and bulletproof vests and all of those things. He can't afford that. He's 21, and he has a job and he lives at home. So somebody was funding those things. I don't know where the money is coming from, if it came from his bank account and he gave the money away, or his parents is funding it. I don't know what happened with that, but that's expensive stuff. Somebody was funding those things."
On the flip side, Harper was surprised with everything she heard from Gendron in court. However, like Everhart, she doesn't believe all that was answered by the suspected gunman.
"Him saying he had $16 in his account, he has no vehicle. He doesn't have any money, but he was able to drive three hours away. He was able to buy all these expensive guns and everything else that he purchased and drive three hours away, and he was gonna make it back home, as well. So that really surprised me," Harper said.
Gendron is expected back in state court on July 7, and remains in the custody of New York State.
