Trial for Tennessee church shooting suspect to start Monday
Posted May 16, 2019 4:35 am.
NASHVILLE — Prosecutors are seeking life without parole for a man accused of fatally shooting a woman and wounding seven people at a Nashville church.
Local news outlets report that 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson’s trial will start Monday. A jury is being selected this week.
Samson faces a 43-count indictment, including a first-degree murder charge, in the September 2017 shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ.
An arrest affidavit says Samson waived his rights and told police he arrived armed and fired at the church.
A psychiatrist has diagnosed Samson with “schizoaffective disorder bipolar type” and post-traumatic stress disorder after an abusive, violent upbringing.
Samson is black and the victims are white. Authorities haven’t definitively said whether they believe he targeted them based on race.
The Associated Press
