3 September 2015, 17:55 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Roof’s attorney said he initially planned on pleading guilty at his client’s arraignment on July 21, but the rest of the legal team advised him to wait and see whether prosecutors would seek the death penalty, Vice News reported on Wednesday.
On September 3, prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty for Roof.
Also on Wednesday, the US Attorney’s Office in Columbia, South Carolina sent a letter to Joseph Meek Jr., a friend of Dylann Roof, to notify him of being a "potential target" of a federal criminal investigation into the deaths of the nine African Americans.
Meek Jr. is being investigated for allegedly lying to law enforcement, which is a felony offense.
Following the killings at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called for Roof to face the death penalty.
