The stepmother of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old charged with nine counts of murder for the shooting at a church in Charleston, has spoken out in his defence.

Paige Mann, who was married to Mr Roof’s father for 10 years and helped raise him, said that her stepson was so smart that he became bored in school and was a germophobe for some time.

“He went to catechism, he went to church,” Ms Mann said. “He was locked in his room looking up bad stuff on the computer.”

In an interview with the New York Daily News, she said: “Something on the computer drew him in – this is Internet evil. We just thought he was a lazy, this-generation kind of kid.”

In pictures: Charleston vigil Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: Charleston vigil In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil Sunlight shines through a window and onto some of the thousands of people gathered for a city-sponsored prayer vigil for the nine victims of the Emanuel AME Church shooting GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil People attend a vigil at TD Arena for victims of the Charleston church shooting GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil A view of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil People attend a prayer vigil at the TD Aren GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil Family members of the nine victims of the Emanuel AME Church shooting sit on the first five rows during a prayer vigil at the College of Charleston TD Arena GETTY In pictures: Charleston vigil Charleston vigil NBA Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (C) joins thousands of people for a prayer vigil for the nine victims GETTY

Mr Roof’s manifesto, published online, shows how the 21-year-old’s views hardened after the shooting of Travyon Martin in Florida in 2012. Ms Paige claimed that it was only after her step-son began living with his mother over the past few years that he became a recluse.

Mr Roof sat with members of the Emanuel African Methodist Epsicopal Church for nearly an hour before he allegedly shot nine of them dead, including the pastor.

Divorce papers filed by Ms Paige in 2008 claim that Franklin Roof had hit her and that any hope Dylann had of a normal home left with her, it was reported by the Inquisitr.