Jury returns to deliberate in Tennessee church shooting case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jurors in Tennessee are deliberating the fate of a black man who killed a woman and wounded seven people at a Nashville church in apparent revenge for the racist massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.

Twenty-seven-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the 2017 shooting of the Burnette Chapel Church of Christ.

Defense witnesses say he suffers from bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress after a violent childhood. His lawyers argued for criminally negligent homicide, not murder.

Prosecutors say he’s conveniently invoking mental illness to avoid responsibility. They’re seeking life without parole.