The twelve-member jury – consisting of 10 women and two men – reached the unanimous sentence after deliberating for three hours. In December, the same jury found Roof guilty on all 33 counts of federal hate crimes for planning to kill nine and attempting to kill three others.

In his six-minute closing argument, the 22-year-old white supremacist showed no remorse for the massacre. While attempting to persuade the jury to spare his life, he claimed that he did not kill the victims out of a hatred for black people.

"I think it's safe to say nobody in their mind wants to go into a church and kill people," he told the jury. "In my [FBI confession] tape I told them I had to. But it's not true: I didn't have to. No one made me. What I meant was: I felt like I had to do it. I still feel like I have to do it."