Atlanta spa shooter Robert Aaron Long expected to get plea deal in 4 of 8 killings, prosecutor says
The man charged with killing eight people, including six Asian women, at three spas near Atlanta in March is expected to reach a plea deal in one of his two cases.
Robert Aaron Long, 22, is charged with four counts of murder in Fulton County and four counts of murder in Cherokee County.
Fulton County’s district attorney expects Long to get a plea deal in the Cherokee County case, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. District Attorney Fani Willis said she’s been told to expect the Cherokee County case to end following a hearing scheduled for July 27.
“In my world that means they’ve reached a deal,” Willis told the AJC.
Willis filed a motion Tuesday to have Long transferred to Fulton County immediately following that hearing, according to local NBC affiliate WXIA.
No matter the deal Long gets in Cherokee County, he will still face the Fulton County case, where he is charged with four counts of murder, domestic terrorism and assault with a deadly weapon. Willis said in May that she will seek the death penalty and hate-crime charges.
Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace’s office said she is “ethically prohibited from discussing any type of plea negotiation,” the AJC reported.
Police say Long began his March 16 rampage at Youngs Asian Massage in Cherokee County, where he killed Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Delaina Yaun, 33, and Paul Michels, 54, and injured 30-year-old Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz.
He then traveled to Fulton County and fatally shot Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51, and Yong Ae Yue, 63, at two different spas, according to cops.
Long was arrested later that night in Crisp County, about 125 miles south of Atlanta, following a short police chase and has been detained in Cherokee County for most of the past four months.
