A Virginia appeals court has upheld Dylann Roofâs death sentence for the 2015 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting which took the lives of nine people. Roof, an avowed white supremacist, was found guilty in 2017 but later appealed his sentence on several grounds, including that he shouldnât have been found competent to stand trial and shouldnât have been allowed to represent himself. Judges didnât find merit to a single one of his arguments and instead ripped him for his horrific crimes. âDylann Roof murdered African Americans at their church, during their Bible-study and worship. They had welcomed him. He slaughtered them,â read the ruling by the three-judge panel, adding that Roofâs attack was premeditated. âHis crimes qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose.â