White man, 53, is sentenced to life in prison for shooting dead two black shoppers at a Kentucky Kroger
A white man convicted of fatally shooting two black shoppers at a Kentucky grocery store was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison.
Gregory Bush, 53, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in Jefferson Circuit Court to two counts of murder, criminal attempted murder and wanton endangerment in connection with the shooting at the Kroger in Jeffersontown on October, 24, 2018, news outlets reported.
A judge sentenced him to two life terms to be served concurrently without the possibility of parole.
Pleading guilty but mentally ill means the Kentucky Department of Corrections must provide Bush with treatment and medication during his term, according to Jeff Cooke, a spokesman for the commonwealth's attorney's office.
Gregory Bush, 53, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to two counts of murder, criminal attempted murder and wanton endangerment
Bush, who is white, opened fire at the Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Kroger supermarket on October 24, 2018, killing two black shoppers he had never met before
Prosecutors said Bush shot Maurice Stallard, 69 , and Vickie Jones, 67
Under a plea agreement, Bush also was set to plead guilty to three federal hate crime charges and three weapons charges in February 2021.
Federal prosecutors alleged the shooting of Maurice Stallard, 69, and Vickie Jones, 67, was racially motivated, though Attorney General William Barr agreed not to seek the death penalty.
A white bystander who witnessed the shooting said Bush told him in the store parking lot, 'Whites don’t shoot whites.'
Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine said in a statement: 'Vickie Jones and Maurice Stallard were senselessly murdered because of the color of their skin. Our entire community and commonwealth had suffered a loss because of racial enmity.'
Police said Bush first stopped at a historically black church nearby, but the door was locked and he left, heading with his handgun to the busy grocery store.
Police said Bush first stopped at the historically black Jeffersontown Baptist Church nearby, but the door was locked and he left
Bush was said to have told a white bystander in the parking lot where he killed the two black shoppers, 'Whites don't shoot whites'
Charlotte Stallard, Maurice's wife , told Bush in court on Tuesday that he has ruined her family's lives. Samuella Gathright, Jones's sister , said she does not know how Bush lives with himself
Bush then walked into the store, pulled a gun from his waist and shot Stallard in the back of the head, then kept shooting him multiple times, according to an arrest report.
The report said Bush reholstered his gun, walked outside and killed Jones in the parking lot. Each victim died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators said the two victims had never met Bush.
Stallard and Jones' relatives delivered emotional impact victim statements, speaking of their anger and loss, and demanding answers, according to WDRB.
'I just don't understand why you selected anyone ... It can’t be just for the color of their skin,' said Charlotte Stallard, Maurice's wife. 'To me it has to be more than that. You can’t hate someone that much for the color of their skin. You have ruined my life. I’d like to just have an idea why?'
The man's daughter, Kellie Watson, described her father as a loving person who was there for everyone.
'I hope that while you are sitting in jail, you are able to reconcile your own life and think about what you did,' she said in court. 'And I'm grateful you will never be able to hurt anyone else.'
Bush (pictured in November 2018) is expected to plead guilty to three federal hate crime charges in February
Bush's attorney argued that on the day of the shooting, he was suffering from schizophrenia and was not medicated. Bush was initially found incompetent to stand trial but was later deemed competent after undergoing treatment
Samuella Gathright, Jones's sister, broke down in tears as she addressed Bush directly: 'I pray for you, because I don't know how you look yourself in the mirror, how you live with yourself.'
Angela Elleman, an attorney for Bush, released a statement arguing that on the day of the shooting, the defendant was suffering from schizophrenia and was not medicated.
'He acted out of his psychosis and his illness, while at the very same time his elderly parents were downtown seeking a mental inquest warrant to hospitalize him for everyone's safety,' WDRB-TV reported, citing the statement.
Bush was initially found incompetent to stand trial in 2019 but was later deemed competent after undergoing weeks of treatment at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center.