A man who is currently on trial for the murder of a woman and the wounding of seven others at a church in Nashville, Tennessee, aimed to kill ten white people in a racially motivated mass shooting.
Emanuel Kidega Samson, 27, is facing life without parole in a 43-count indictment, including a first-degree murder charge, for the September 2017 mass shooting that claimed the life of 38-year-old churchgoer Melanie L. Crow of Smyrna, Tennessee, who was shot dead at the parking lot of Burnette Chapel Church of Christ.
Samson is facing a first degree murder charge for the death of Melanie L. Crow, according to the Associated Press.
It is reported that Samson also worshiped at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, before opening fire in a bloody rampage at his fellow congregation.
The church was described by the prosecutor as being a multicultural and multigenerational place of worship.
His attorney, Jennifer Lynn Thompson, made the case that Samson, reportedly suffering from serious mental health issues, had allegedly tried to commit suicide after sending a note to his girlfriend and a goodbye video to his cousin.
On Monday Thompson said: “What this case is about is a man who was very sad, very suicidal, and he was looking to die that day.”
At an April hearing, Samson was diagnosed by a psychiatrist with “schizoaffective disorder bipolar type” and post-traumatic stress disorder, following a turbulent childhood.
In Samson’s car, another note was recovered where he had referenced 2015 South Carolina church mass shooter Dylann Roof and mentioned the Pan-African red, black, and green flag.
According to the Nashville Deputy District Attorney Amy Hunter, the note read: “Dylann Roof is less than nothing,” he continued: “The blood that 10 of your kind will shed is that of the color upon the RBG flag in terms of vengeance.”
The note ended with a smiley face.
With the revelation of the note in Samson’s car, Hunter said: “This state will prove beyond all reasonable doubt that on Sept. 24, 2017, this defendant, Emanuel Kidega Samson, went to the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ with the intent to murder a minimum of 10 white churchgoers on that day.”
These revelations come at a time where “hate crimes” are a hot topic with the recent Ahmaud Arbery shooting and the Michigan care home beating grabbing headlines in the past month.
