It's been a lengthy three years since the tragic Atlanta spa shootings that claimed the lives of four Asian women, and the accused gunman's fate is still up in the air. Robert Aaron Long remains in a legal limbo as the anticipated death penalty trial in Fulton County has yet to be scheduled, according to WABE. Long, who already pleaded guilty to separate charges and was sentenced to life without parole, pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces in Fulton County, including hate crime designations.
Serving his life sentence handed down in Cherokee County for the March 2021 shootings, Long, now 24, stands at the center of a fraught legal argument. His attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council have attempted various legal maneuvers. These have included efforts to remove the death penalty consideration based on Long's age when the crimes were committed, as well as challenges to the grand jury's demographics and requesting media exclusion from proceedings.
In Fulton County, the prosecution is pushing hard to see Long receive the ultimate punishment, hopeful that evidence showing Long drove 30 miles to continue his heinous spree along Piedmont Road in Atlanta will solidify their case. They're ready to prosecute for the deaths of Yong Ae Yue, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, and Hyun Jung Grant at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa.
However, a congested court docket complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the involvement of Chief Judge Ural Glanville, engrossed in a high-stakes case against Atlanta rapper Young Thug, have both contributed to delaying the start of Long's trial. The Georgia Public Defender Council, tasked with Long's defense, did not respond to requests for input on these ongoing issues.
While the judicial gears grind slowly forward, Long finds himself housed at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, a facility that's no stranger to state executions. Time will tell whether it will serve as the ultimate setting for Long's punishment, but for now, the wheels of justice remain mired in procedural delays and legal complexities.
