CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – A white man charged with killing nine black parishioners at a Charleston church will stand trial next July, a judge ruled during a brief hearing Thursday.
Circuit Judge J.C. Nicholson set a July 11, 2016, trial date for Dylann Roof, 21, who faces multiple charges, including nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder stemming from the June 17 shootings.
Roof sat quietly during the proceedings in a gray-striped prison jump suit in a courtroom crowded with about 100 people.
He was presented copies of the indictments and public defender Ashley Pennington told the judge he would not seek bond at this time “based on the totality of the circumstances.”
The judge called Roof a flight risk, noting he was arrested in Shelby, North Carolina, about 250 miles away, the day after the parishioners were shot to death during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.