CANTON, Georgia – A man accused of killing eight people, most of them women of Asian descent, in massage shops in the Atlanta area pleaded guilty to killing four of the murders on Tuesday and was given four life sentences sentenced without parole.
Robert Aaron Long, 22, still faces the death penalty in the four other deaths pursued in another county. The string of shootings at three different companies in March sparked outrage and fueled fear among Asian Americans, who by then were already facing mounting hostility related to the coronavirus pandemic. Many were particularly angry when authorities alleged that Long’s crimes were not racially motivated but resulted from a sex addiction that is not recognized as an official disorder.
In comments that are sure to further frustrate those who believe Long targeted Asian women, a prosecutor reiterated Tuesday that Cherokee County investigators saw no evidence of racial bias. That contrasts with the surge in hate crime that Long, who knows, is facing in the four deaths in Atlanta just a few miles away.
“That wasn’t any kind of hate crime,” said District Attorney Shannon Wallace.
On March 16, police reported that Long shot and killed four people, including three women and two of Asian descent, at Youngs Asian Massage in Cherokee County. A fifth person was injured. Long then drove to Atlanta, where he shot and killed three women at the Gold Spa before crossing the street to the Aromatherapy Spa and fatally shooting another woman, police said. All of the victims in Atlanta were of Asian descent.
In Atlanta, Long could be sentenced to death if convicted in the four deaths. There, in addition to murder, he is charged with aggravated assault and domestic terrorism, and prosecutors have announced that they will try to classify the deaths as hate crimes.
Wallace stated that Cherokee County attorneys had come to a different conclusion. When Long walked through the first spa and “shot anyone and everyone he saw,” Wallace said he told investigators he was motivated by a “sex addiction” and a desire to eliminate the sources of temptation in businesses where he committed sexual acts. Investigators interviewed people who had known him for years, including three of Asian descent, who said they had never heard him say anything derogatory about any race or ethnic group, Wallace said.
On the gender bias, Wallace said that seeking to reinforce hate crime based on misogyny would not have significantly extended his sentence.
The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize sex addiction in its main reference manual on mental disorders. While some people have difficulty controlling their sexual behavior, it is often linked to other recognized disorders or moral views about sexuality, said David Ley, clinical psychologist and author of The Myth of Sex Addiction.
Wallace said prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty if Long pleaded guilty. All the relatives of the victims they could reach supported the plea deal in the interests of speedy justice, she added.
By phone, Michael Webb, the victim’s ex-husband Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, said the family was “very happy” with the request.
Bonnie Michels, whose husband Paul was the first to be killed, told the judge about the void in her life his death left.
“Part of me died with him that day,” she said. “I am devastated.”
Elcias Rocendo Hernandez Ortiz, who was shot in the face, also spoke in Spanish in court. He said it was very difficult for his family and that he sympathized with the loved ones of the deceased.
“Honestly, this man, why didn’t he think about it before killing so many people? I just want justice, ”he said of a translator.
The prosecutor said the defendant signed a plea agreement admitting all charges in Cherokee County, where he was charged with willful murder, felony murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. Cherokee County Superior Court’s chief judge Ellen McElyea accepted the agreement and sentenced him to four life sentences without parole plus an additional 35 years.
Those killed in the Cherokee County resort were: Tan, 49; Michel, 54; Daoyou Feng, 44; and Delaina Yaun, 33. The Atlanta victims were: Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; and Yong Ae Yue, 63.
Long said he planned to commit suicide that day and went to the massage shops thinking that paying for sex – which he thought was wrong – would push him to do it. But at some point while he was sitting in his car before the first fun, he decided to kill the people in it.
After being arrested in South Georgia, Long told detectives about his struggles with pornography and sex. Believed to be an addict, he felt tremendous feelings of guilt and shame when watching porn or engaging in sexual acts in massage shops, Wallace said.
Long said he was driven by a desire to “punish” the people who worked there.
Long is due to return to Fulton County next month, where District Attorney Fani Willis has announced that she intends to seek a so-called increase in the penalty for hate crimes as well as the death penalty.
Georgia’s new hate crime law does not provide for a stand-alone hate crime. After a person is convicted of an underlying crime, a jury will decide whether they were bias motivated, which comes with an additional penalty.
Police said Long got back in his car after the shootings at the two Atlanta spas, and authorities said he intended to commit similar crimes in Florida.
By then, Long’s parents had called authorities after spotting their son in pictures from a security video the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office posted on social media. His parents were already tracking his movements through an application on his phone so they would know if he was visiting massage shops, the prosecutor said, and this enabled authorities to find him.
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Associated press writers Jeff Martin in Savannah and Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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