Prosecutor To Seek Death Penalty Against Robert Long For Georgia Spa Shooting

A Georgia prosecutor announced Tuesday that she would seek the death penalty against the man accused of fatally shooting eight people, six of whom were of Asian descent.

A grand jury in Fulton County indicted Robert Aaron Long, 22, for the March 16 shooting. The Fulton County indictment charges Long with four counts of felony murder, four counts of murder, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of domestic terrorism.

A Cherokee County grand jury also indicted Long for an independent shooting there. According to the Associated Press, those charges include four counts of felony murder and four counts of malice murder.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed notice that she plans to seek hate crime charges and ask for the death penalty. It is believed that Long had targeted four women in Atlanta because of their race, national origin, and gender.

Last year, as part of her campaign for district attorney, Willis said she would not seek death penalty charges in any case. “And at that time, I did not. Unfortunately, a case has arisen in the first few months of my term that I believe warrants the ultimate penalty. And we shall seek it,” she said of Long’s case, according to CNN.

In March, Long shot and killed four people at Young’s Asian Massage near Woodstock. He then drove to Atlanta, where he shot and killed three more people at Gold Spa and one final victim across the street at Aromatherapy Spa. 

Long’s victims in the Fulton County shooting have been identified as Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The Cherokee County victims have been identified as Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Yaun, 33; and Paul Michels, 54.

Long’s parents identified him to authorities after recognizing him in a social media post. Long eventually surrendered to the police. During interrogation, he claimed his motive for the killings was sex addiction, and he targeted locations that might be tempting to him.