Dylann Storm Roof, the White man accused of killing nine members of an historic Black church in Charleston, S.C., last year, was attacked August 4 by a Black inmate in the Charleston County Detention Center, where the two were housed in the protective custody unit, authorities said. He’s now in jail in Charleston County for armed robbery, providing false info to police as well as assault and battery.
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Watson said Stafford would be charged with assault, but during a news conference on Thursday, Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon said there would not be charges. He said Stafford should not have been able to get out of his cell, and how that happened is among the issues being investigated. “This certainly serves as a wakeup call”.
Dylann Roof was attacked by a fellow inmate as he was stepping into a jail shower Thursday in South Carolina, USA Today reports. “Up and down the chain, we have to ensure that our folks do not fall prey to the routine”.
According to the Charleston County Clerk of Court records, online, Stafford was released at 8:27 p.m. His public defender-of-record, Joseph Kozelski III, could not be reached for comment Friday night.
An incident report reveals Roof had been showering at the time of the attack.
Roof’s lawyers reportedly said their client has no intention of filing charges against Stafford over the assault.
The other inmate faces assault charges. Besides this, two staffers from the detention center are charged with watching Roof while he is out of his cell.
Officers checked cells in the area prior to that to make sure they were locked, he said.
The federal government has charged Roof with hate crimes and other offenses in the shootings.
His federal trial is set for November while his state trial is set for next year. He faces the death penalty in upcoming trials in federal and state courts. Roof will be facing the death penalty at his trial.
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Roof’s attorneys argued in US court papers filed this week that he should not face the federal death penalty, which they deemed “cruel and unusual punishment” as well as unconstitutional – a stance consistent with Delaware’s recent ruling that federal executions have no constitutional basis.
