Man accused of killing 8 at Asian spas attempting to avoid death row

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read

Attorneys for the man accused of killing eight people at three metro Atlanta spas last year filed dozens of motions to try to keep him off death row Tuesday morning.

Robert Aaron Long, 23, is accused of going on a multi-county killing spree in March of 2021, leaving eight people dead across three Asian spas in Cherokee County and the city of Atlanta. Six of the eight people who were killed were Asian women.

Long previously pleaded guilty in Cherokee County to four counts of murder in the deaths of Paul Michels, 54; Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; and Delaina Yaun, 33, at a spa near Acworth.

He has already been sentenced to four life sentences for those murders.

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On Tuesday, he and his attorneys were in a Fulton County courtroom, where Long was trying to avoid the death penalty during his upcoming trial in October for the murders in Atlanta.

Long has been charged with the murders of Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63 at two Piedmont Road spas.

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Long pleaded not guilty to those charges, which included murder, aggravated assault, and domestic terrorism in Fulton County.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is seeking the death penalty and sentencing enhancement under Georgia’s new hate crimes law.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in the courthouse, where tears rolled down Long’s mother’s face as she sat behind her son and listened to his attorneys try to keep him alive.

Long avoided the death penalty in Cherokee County DA because he did not go to trial.

Jury selection is set to start in August for Long’s trial in Fulton County.

The shooting spree stunned people across the country.

Long’s alleged actions highlighted hate crimes, which sparked protests and rallies to stop hate crimes against Asians.