Death penalty eyed in 8 Ga. spa killings

The gunman accused of a March 16 shooting rampage that killed eight people at Atlanta-area massage parlors, six of them Asian women, could be facing hate crime charges and the death penalty, a prosecutor said.

Robert Long, 22, was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on Tuesday for gunning down Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51, and Yong Ae Yue, 63, at two Atlanta spas.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicated she’d seek hate crime charges and the death penalty in the slayings. Under Georgia’s hate crimes law, a person must first be convicted of an underlying crime before a jury determines whether to also declare it a hate crime, for an additional penalty.

Long (inset) was indicted on four counts each for murder and felony murder, along with charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and domestic terrorism, according to online records cited by The Associated Press.

A separate grand jury in Cherokee County indicted him Tuesday in the deadly spa shootings of Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Yaun, 33, and Paul Michels, 54. Long was hit with four counts each of malice murder and felony murder, plus criminal attempt to commit murder and a host of other charges.

Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, was wounded in the attack.

Long blamed “an addiction to sex” for his crimes and admitted frequenting the massage parlors in the past, telling officers they were a “temptation he wanted to eliminate.” He also alluded to religious beliefs that shamed him. Parishioners at Crabapple First Baptist Church, where he was a member, voted to expel him less than a week after his murderous rampage.

The spree began in suburban Atlanta, where four people at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Woodstock were slain, two of them Asian women. Long is accused of then driving to Gold Spa in downtown Atlanta, killing three Asian women there before crossing the street to Aromatherapy Spa, where he fatally shot another woman of Asian descent.

The killings shook the Asian-American community amid nationwide race-based attacks stemming from misperceptions about coronavirus and its origin in China.

Long has denied he was fueled by racial hatred.