The suspect in a string of fatal shootings at Atlanta-area massage parlors was indicted Tuesday on murder charges, and prosecutors signaled they will also seek hate crime charges – something advocates have been pushing since the March slayings rattled the Asian-American community.
Robert Aaron Long was officially indicted by a Fulton County grand jury for the fatal shootings of four people killed at two spas in Atlanta: Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63. The indictment does not cover the four others who were killed at another massage parlor in Cherokee County.
The indictment charges Long with four counts of murder, four counts of felony murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and one count of domestic terrorism, according to online records.
It will be up to a separate grand jury in Cherokee County to decide on charges in the shooting at a spa near suburban Woodstock in which four were killed and one person was wounded.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis also filed notice that she intends to seek hate crime charges and the death penalty against Long, who is white. The hate crime charges are based on actual or perceived race, national origin, sex and gender, according to online records.
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