Accused deadly spa shooter faces hate crime charges in Fulton County

A superior court judge is expected to make a decision in the deadly spa shooting case in 2021.

The decision is whether the accused shooter Robert Aaron Long should be executed.

Long’s defense argued on day two of the hearings on Friday that his brain wasn’t fully developed at the time of the mass murder.

He was 21 at the time.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was live at Fulton County Superior Court where the court heard two more witnesses come to the stand.

Long pleaded guilty to killing four people, mostly of Asian descent, at an Asian spa in Cherokee County in 2021.

But he pleaded not guilty to killing four more people at Asian spas in Fulton County

Long faces hate crime charges and the death penalty in Fulton County.

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Inside court, defense attorneys questioned two doctors with expertise in adolescent brain development.

The defense argued that because Long was 21 years old at the time of the murder spree, his brain was not fully developed and therefore should not be executed.

“Time pressure, peer pressure affects adolescents more than does fully mature adults,” Dr Jennifer Woolard, a professor of psychology at Georgetown University said.

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The prosecution pushed back on both doctors, stating that the studies they cited were conducted on people under the age of 21.

Now the judge said he will speak with attorneys on both sides in his chambers before he makes his decision next month.

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