The Pittsburgh shooter who killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 was found eligible Thursday for the federal death penalty.
A federal jury announced that Robert Bowers is eligible for the death penalty, allowing the trial to move to the sentencing stage where further testimony and evidence will be heard. The jury sided with government prosecutors who argued that Bowers had the required legal intent to kill.
Bowers, 50, was found guilty in June on all 63 felony charges, 22 of which can carry the death penalty, including federal hate crime charges. The capital offense charges include 11 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
His attorneys offered a plea deal for Bowers to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence without parole, but prosecutors turned it down.
Bowers opened fire at the Tree of Life synagogue located in Pittsburgh on the morning of Oct. 27, 2018, killing 11 worshippers and injuring seven others, including officers who shot back at the gunman. During final arguments Wednesday, prosecutors argued that Bowers had planned the attack for months.
“On Oct. 27, 2018, this defendant violated the safe, holy sanctuary that was the Tree of Life synagogue,” prosecutor Soo Song said. “He turned it into a killing ground.”
Bowers’s legal team argued that his mental illness and his delusional belief that he could prevent a genocide of white people by killing Jewish people hindered his ability to form intent.
Song refuted the defense’s claims, saying Bowers “regrets that he didn’t kill dozens more,” strategically planned the attack and considered other Jewish targets. He posted on social media about his hatred of Jewish people before the attack and told police officers at the time that “all these Jews need to die.”
The Anti-Defamation League said at the time that the shooting was the deadliest attack carried out against Jewish people in U.S. history.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.