BUFFALO, N.Y. — Emotions ran especially high during the Wednesday sentencing for Payton Gendron, the man who has admitted to killing 10 black people and injuring three others at a grocery store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo.
In front of Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, Gendron received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a domestic terrorism charge and all ten first-degree murder charges.
Over a dozen family members offered victim impact statements during the hearing including the sister of Katherine Massey who was killed on May 14, 2022, Barbara Mapps (Massey).
Massey was enraged and impassioned and spoke directly at Gendron calling him a "punk ass" who took her sister's life for no reason other than the color of her skin. She paced and pointed at Gendron, yelling at times and expressing her pain.
Her remarks grew so fervent that Damone Mapps, her son, lunged toward the gunman seated just a few feet away. Massey said he did so after seeing her in an intense emotional state.
Erie County Court officers restrained the man while other officers temporarily rushed Gendron out of the courtroom. The sentencing resumed 10 to 15 minutes later after Judge Eagan stated that while painful and emotional, decorum was necessary at the hearing.
During a post-sentencing press conference, District Attorney John Flynn said there would be no legal repercussions for the event, which, unbeknownst to those in the hearing, resulted in a hole being punched in the wall somewhere in the courthouse.
"I told the OCA officers not to charge him, so he will not be charged. This has happened before," Flynn said.
"You know, I don't know if the officer court administration has a budget line or not for damaged property. But you know, people have punched holes in walls before, and you know we can fix it."
Flynn said charging the man with criminal mischief would only compound the May 14 tragedy.
Judge Eagan described each victim as she handed down each sentence. She told Gendron that he would never see the light of day ever again as a free man.
Gendron made a brief statement in court, apologized to the families for the pain he caused, and expressed his regret for what he had done.
In the middle of the statement Barbara Mapps could be heard in the background shouting: "YOU DON'T MEAN THAT S***!"