Federal trial date for Buffalo mass shooter set
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The federal trial for Tops mass shooter Payton Gendron is set for Sept. 8, 2025, over three years after the confessed murderer killed 10 people and injured three others in a racist attack at the Buffalo supermarket in May 2022.
The date was established during a federal court session Friday. Gendron was not present in court.
The Department of Justice announced they will seek the death penalty against Gendron in January, and arguments surrounding whether or not Gendron should be put to death will likely take center stage during the federal trial.
Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo said Sept. 8, 2025 is not a “hell or high water” date for the trial, and that it could get pushed back based on pretrial arguments.
Gendron, 20, is already serving life in prison after he pleaded guilty to over a dozen state charges against him in November 2022. One of the charges, first-degree domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, is automatically punished by life in prison without parole. New York does not have the death penalty.
“I’m happy that things are moving forward,” Zeneta Everhart, the mother of shooting survivor Zaire Goodman, said Friday. “I think that gives both sides enough time to prepare their cases. … I don’t know about the families, you know, I don’t know if that makes them feel good or not. But it’s good to have it, it’s good to have a goal.”
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