CSNbbs

Quote:Dylann Roof pleaded guilty Monday to state murder charges in a Charleston courtroom for the June 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church and Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson sentenced the 23-year-old Eastover resident to life in prison.

Monday’s hearing likely brings an end the local courtroom saga in his prosecution since he gunned down nine black church worshipers at the church’s weekly Bible study, which he planned for months and foreshadowed in an online white supremacist manifesto.

Quote:Roof pleaded to nine counts of murder, three of attempted murder and a firearms violation in exchange for life in prison.

Roof already was convicted and sentenced in January to death on federal hate crimes and religious rights violations. The federal government recently took over custody of Roof, allowing it to make arrangements for his execution.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said Monday's outcome "is the surest way to see that Dylann Roof is executed."

At some point after Monday's court proceeding, Roof likely will be transferred to a federal prison. Death row inmates are housed at a Terre Haute, Ind., facility.