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BLADE NEWS SERVICES

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jurors will begin deliberations on whether white supremacist Dylann Roof should be sentenced to death or life in prison for killing nine black people at a historic church in Charleston, a federal judge said Friday.

The same jury that found Roof, 22, guilty last month of 33 federal charges including hate crimes heard a third day of testimony from the survivors of victims in the June, 2015, massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

“My heart is broken,” said Malcolm Graham, brother of librarian Cynthia Hurd, who was among those killed after welcoming Roof to the evening Bible study where he opened fire. “Cynthia was easygoing, my motivator, my example.”

Family and friends attending the penalty phase of Roof’s trial sobbed at the memories of victims including Ethel Lance, a matriarch whose family was left in “tattered pieces” by her death, daughter Sharon Risher said.

Roof is as entrenched in his white supremacist beliefs as ever, an FBI agent testified on Friday. 

Roof even wore shoes in court this week with racist symbols drawn on them, FBI agent Joseph Hamski said. 

Roof is representing himself during the sentencing phase of his trial. So far he has not asked jurors to spare his life or cross-examined any witnesses put forth by prosecutors.

When authorities searched Roof’s cell in August, 2015, they found a pair of white sneakers with a cross associated with white supremacy drawn on them.

Mr. Hamski testified about Roof’s conversations online before the shootings, where he interacted with others on a white supremacist website. 

The FBI agent read several passages from a journal found in Roof’s cell. In it, Roof wrote at length about his thoughts on the superiority of the white race.